Mysuru, Sept 9: Traditional idol makers of city are dwindling fast with rapid commercialisation of the festival and the entry of plaster of Paris (POP) and paper pulp Ganesha idols from other states.
With Ganesha Chaturthi to be celebrated on September 13 the artisans are worried as general public were losing faith and beauty of plain clay Gowri and Ganesha idols that are produced in the state in the unique Karnataka style.
There is not much time left for the extinction of both our style of idols and the artistes who have the knowledge to make them. It is imminent that the artistes turn to other professions soon, after all, the artistes too have to make a living, a senior Ganesha idol maker said here on Sunday.
“There were nearly 80 to 90 artisan families in Kumbarageri area of the city till two decades ago,” according to Revanna, an artiste specialising in clay models with more than 25 years of experience in the field. Today, one may hardly find about 10 to 15 families engaged in making Ganesh idols, he added.
Besides, the advent of POP idols which are rich in colour and light-weight, have made it difficult for the clay artisans.
“Though the government claims to have banned the POP idols and even made a show of their raids, it is only for publicity and the idols continue to be sold,” said Mr Revanna.
Kumbarageri has also seen a migration of artisan families in search of greener pastures and some of them have resettled in other parts of the city.
The Kumbarageri area itself has become highly commercialised with dense growth and does not permit the traditional way of functioning on roadsides by dumping huge quantities of clay. Hence some families have migrated to Koorgalli, Hebbal and surrounding areas where they continue to make Ganesh idols.
It takes the artisans anywhere between four to six months to prepare and make the idols. But with assembly line production of idols that flood the market, the idols that are locally made tend to be swamped out in the competition, said Mr. Revanna.
Welcoming the move Dr Arathi Krishna told coastaldigst.com that Indians stranded in any foreign country can utilize this facility. "Initially, I was approached by Mr Zakaria and Mr Sheik who wanted chartered flights to help their employees fly back to India. I asked them to write to the Indian Ambassador in Saudi Araia Mr Ausaf Sayeed. Then I requested the ambassador to forward the request to Joint Secretary Dr Nagendra Prasad, who is in charge of gulf division in the Ministry of External Affairs, and then to Secretary on charge of Gulf and then I requested Secretary of Economic Relations Mr T S Tirumurti who was also in charge of Gulf to follow this up," she said.
Comments
please read in your veda book..dont be foool...most hindus dont know what they religious book says simply depend on poojari...if he say to eat shit they are ready
Fool; that is from your own book.
Ok. Then start worship the artisans (LOL). ZN lover spotted
Na Tasya Pratima Asti. Dont worship creation. Worship creator.
Ganesha can be exported
Its should be tradition art of karnataka, stop mass production company intervene
Why govt cant take it as part of tourism and govt body with under govt monitoring. It's unique thing of Karnataka.
Govt should provide support to artisans. Should have tie up with Karnataka tourism. It should not be limited as seasons
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