Karnataka - Gulbarga   

From Yesuri to Gulbarga to make a living

T.V. Sivanandan

FINAL TOUCHES: Ganesha idols being readied at a camp of artists from Rajasthan, in Gulbarga.

GULBARGA: For Sanna Ram and his family members, from Yesuri Tahsil of Pali in Rajasthan to Gulbarga city is definitely a long distance to travel and make a living by selling Ganesha and other decorative idols.

Sanna Ram's and five other families from Yesuri Tahsil, a small hamlet in Rajasthan, arrive in Gulbarga city every year two months before Vinayaka Chaturthi to make Ganesha idols of different sizes and in different moods for a living.

Sanna Ram and 30 others, who make the six families, put up their tents on an open land on Gulbarga-Afzalpur State Highway on the outskirts of the city to make the Ganesha idols for the festival. In the off-season, they make decorative idols and art pieces.

According to Sanna Ram, traditional makers of idols, who use Plastic of Paris (PoP) bonding material and dye casts, move out of their villages every year to different parts of the country to sell their goods, as they cannot find market for their produces in their native village or in the State.

All the members of these families, including women and children, lend a helping hand to their men in their work.

While the women help in giving finishing touches to the idols after removing them from the dye casts, the children help their parents in mixing paints.

Some of the children have attained mastery in painting the idols and decorative pieces.

It is a treat to watch Sanna Ram and his men transform the idols of Ganesha with their nimble fingers using traditional painting material.

Sanna Ram told The Hindu that their business was like a gamble and if they made a fortune one year, they suffered loss during the lean season. These families also sell their goods in Maharashtra, where Vinayaka Chaturthi is celebrated on a grand scale. The prize of these beautiful idols ranges from Rs. 80 for small ones to Rs. 7,000 for the large ones.

Sanna Ram said that most of the bigger idols were made here and transported to Maharashtra where there was a good market for them. Medium-sized idols had good market potential in Gulbarga city.

Vinayaka Chaturthi provides meaningful employment to many people from Gulbarga, neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The 11-day celebrations begin on August 27.

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