Clay artisans in Mysuru hope to reap a profit through Ganesha idols this year given the demand for it after a two-year lull due to the pandemic.
Kumbarageri in the heart of the city is the ‘studio’ for traditional artisans who have inherited the tradition of making clay idols of Ganesha from their forefathers.
Catering to the devotees in Mysuru and surrounding regions since generations, the business was good till the moulded Plaster of Paris images dubbed as Bombay-style Ganeshas, made its entry into the market a few years ago. Not only did it capture a large slice of the market, it affected the clay artisans whose numbers were dwindling over the years.
But this year, there is a pent-up demand for Ganesha idols as festivals were low-key affairs confined to one’s home in 2020 and 2021 owing to COVID-19.
‘’Apart from the demand for small idols of less than 1 ft installed in households, there is also a demand for bigger idols that are installed in Ganapathi pandals in public places,” said Mr. Puttaswamy, who is a clay artisan from Kumbarageri.
But most artisans in Mysuru follow the traditional mode of making idols from clay and eschew any of the banned substances including plaster of Paris, he added. ‘’There is demand for eco-friendly idols and we only apply vegetable dyes and water colours,” said Mr. Puttaswamy who inherited the tradition of making the idols from his father and is in the business since 40 years.
But it is not a rosy tale of all artisans striking it rich during Ganesha festival. The unsold idols have to be preserved till the next year and this requires space which has to be rented, says Mr. Revanna, another artistan who is a resident of Kumbarageri.
There was a time when the Kumbarageri extension had scores of artisans engaged in making the idols. But over the years their numbers have dwindled as the new generation shifted to other trade. As a result there are about a dozen artisans left in this old area of Mysuru. ‘’In the whole of Mysuru there are only about 25 to 30 artisans left manufacturing Ganesha idols’’, said Mr. Revanna.
The artisans procure clay from lake beds and the work commences in summer. ‘’Ganesha making keeps us occupied for 5 months in a year,” said Mr. Puttaswamy. For the rest of the year he takes up tailoring to supplement the income earned during and in the run-up to the Ganesha season.
But notwithstanding the demand for clay idols and traditional Ganeshas, the artisans are feeling the brunt of Bombay-style Ganeshas that tend to flood the market and are procured en masse from Bengaluru. ‘’So much so that a section of the clay artisans have abandoned the family tradition of making clay idols and have started procuring Bombay-styled idols from the wholesale market and sell them to customers,” said Mr. Revanna.
Meanwhile, the traditional artisans led by Mr. Revanna and others have submitted a memorandum to the Mysuru City Corporation to crack down on the display and sale of plaster of Paris idols as it is not eco-friendly. Besides, it is affecting the fortunes of local artisans, he added.
