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Chasing a godly pursuit

Overlooking lucrative options, the Akkala brothers chose to remain close to the deities by continuing their family tradition, says RAMESH SUSARLA

DIVINE EXPERIENCE The brothers work in tandem to ensure a finer finish

Adorning idols of Gods and Goddesses with brass, silver or gold ornaments is an inseparable Hindu ritual associated with Indian temples. Be it at Tirutanni, Tirupati or in Chicago, devotees visualize Lord Murugappa or Venkateswara in the sanctum sanctorum based on the manner in which the idols are decorated with the glittering ornaments.

Tradition has an irreplaceable value. This is proved at Tenali where latest technology or computerised designing has failed to match the skills of Akkalas, who have kept themselves busy for the last over five decades in meeting the demand for tailor-made gaja vahanams or silver aprons. Even while continuing the family tradition with élan, siblings Mangayya, Ramakrishna, Rammohan Rao and Sriram have gradually begun to diversify into other areas of sculpting and idol making.

Zealous mission

"What began as a service to the lord by creating His idols, has transformed into a missionary zeal to achieve perfection in creating the artifacts used to carry out religious rituals in temples. These works of art fit into the measurements and expressions laid down in `Agama Shastra' to look at them as objects of reference for posterity," says Mangayya.

The brothers probably could have gained monetarily had they deviated to any other business in the town. But they draw greater satisfaction in infusing life into their wonderful pieces of art.

If the Lord Venkateswara Temple at Aurora in Chicago, United States, decided to replace the golden hood of the Lord with a masterpiece from Tenali, it is because of the ability of the Akkalas to produce a replica of what is visible on the Seven Hills.

Embossing all curvatures and engraving finer details of the skill make their pieces stand out. Manually chiseled by mounting gold, silver or bronze sheets on hardened sealing wax, they used copper to create the face of Lakshmi Narsimha Swamy, which was then coated with gold and displayed during `nijarupa darshanam' at Simhachalam in Visakhapatnam.

Academic support

Seven different varieties of crowns made by the Akkala brothers adorn the humble head of Shirdi Sai Baba's idol at the main temple in Shirdi. Ramakrishna, second of the four brothers, who is also specialized in carving human faces, makes use of the skills he learnt in the fine arts diploma to lend the right finish to images of Shanku, Chakram, Kati Hastam and Varada Hastam.

The brothers have just dispatched a set of these gold-coated silver ornaments to Nairobi in Kenya for `Moolavirat vigraham', the focus of Brahmotsavam beginning this week. They also reserve crdit for the silver sheath with intricate designs embossed on it on the idol of Vasavi Kanikaparameswari in Kurnool.

The view at the tiny, crammed studio-cum-workshop near Gandhi Chowk where a handful of artisans are engaged in works like moulding of metallic sheets and beating it with a wooden hammer is deceptive to the eye.

For, stunning artifacts and the finished silver images of Gajavahanam at Annavaram temple, shatters all apprehensions.

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