The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : Work orders for skilled artisans on rise

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Tuesday, Apr 08, 2008
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Work orders for skilled artisans on rise

Staff Reporter

Photo: Lingaraj Panda

P. Ravi Kumar (right) busy giving final touches to the silver image of ‘Ma Dandakali’ in Berhampur. —

BERHAMPUR: The work orders for the traditional metal crafts men have started to increase with the increase in the number of temples and devotion among the devotees.

These craftsmen specialise in the decorative metal items used in the traditional Hindu temples and also carve metal faces and ornaments of deities worshipped at temples.

Brothers P. Ravikumar and P. Sankar run one such unit ‘Silpanjali’ near the Thakurani temple in the city. It is their parental profession.

They are adept in crafting metal items for the deities and temples. They say in recent years their profession has shown steady growth. They are getting orders regularly from Orissa as well as Andhra Pradesh. They attribute it to the increase in devotion among the people who want to gift metal ornaments and decorative items to temples and new temples being established in different localities.

But they say crafting these metal items related to the faith and devotion of people is not easy.

The craftsmen themselves maintain a pious lifestyle almost similar to a penance when they get involved in their making. Recently they carved a large face or ‘Prabha’ of goddess Dakshina Kali out of three kilograms of silver. It took six months for the two brothers to craft it. Throughout the period they denounced all negatives including non-vegetarian food. “The deity we are making would be worshipped by people so we try to as much respect as we can to the making process,” they said.

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