The end of monsoon heralds the celebration of festivities and farmers take a break from harvest work. The commencement of the Shravana maasa sees hectic activity by the women folk. Spring cleaning the house, shopping for new saris, dresses and jewelry and a gung ho atmosphere in the kitchen. Good times for everybody indeed as the urbanites recreate the Habba Bonhomie. But there is one community that works tirelessly in this season. The IDOL MAKERS whose hands churn out wonderful images of Ganesha and Durga. They are much sought after now only to be forgotten after the festival. But their quite determination reflects their faith reposed in Ganesha- the remover of Obstacles and their destiny.

The festival of Gouri-Ganesha is celebrated this year on the 2nd &3rd of September. The idols of Ganesha in different shapes and colours is a veritable feast, mesmerizing the viewer as these images make their presence felt in the lanes and by lanes of Mavalli, V.V.Puram, Pottery Town, Nagawara, Yelahanka, Venkateshpura etc.

As the monsoon closes the potters collect the clay from lakes, smoothen it, and dry it. After a month they start fashioning the “avatars” of Ganapathi in varying sizes that are given a coat of paint one month before the festival. In every shed 500- 50,000 idols are made that has a ready market across Karnataka and abroad that are completed three months ahead of the fest. The 6’ to 14’ ganeshas are made from paper machie as they are light weight and easy to transported. These artisans do not think of alternate vocations as shaping the idols is almost a religion. It’s a labour of love as they toil 10 months in a year, battling the rising costs of paint and labour.

Meeting and interacting with Selvaraj who is working with 20 artisans in his Venkateshpura shed throws open a window to his fascinating world of Art which is not as simple as it may seem, having lovingly honed his skill over the years. The process is slow; the parts are from moulds that have to be joined and the proportions of the basic mixture have to be exact. A 6’ idol takes 10 days for completion. His deft fingers shape the clay into the fascinating parts of Ganesha even as he is speaking. Embarking on a journey far from the native soil his father along with 40 families migrated from Periyapalyam Arni, Tamilnadu 8 decades ago. The Mysore Maharaja gave the migrated 40 families from the potter’s community, land in today’s Pottery Town in Fraser Town. Expanding family and business has seen the shifting of nearly 30 families to other areas in the city. As he willingly takes me on a conducted tour I am given to understand that he and his brothers do not experiment with avatars of Ganeshas. The only innovative touch is the vahanas. His star attraction this time is Kalinga Ganesha, Ice Lingam ganesha (Amarnath issue?) neatly lined up waiting for the let up by the rain gods to give ganesha that colourful touch that comes from dried paint.

He does not make images from plaster of Paris and uses only clay from lakes. Making 3” to 14’ ganeshas is routine, the bigger ones made from paper mache. His son Sunil who is an apprentice at an auditors firm is at the workshop till 3 am during the season. Though he would like to go in for eco friendly Ganeshas using non enamel paints the demand is for painted ganeshas as the few natural clay idols are made on the day of habba only. He dreams of an inroad into the export market to mitigate the exorbitant interest on hand loans and the increasing costs of raw materials and labour, giving them narrow margins without any support from the Government though bank loans would be of great help. Selvaraj can be contacted at 9448883868/ 25472148.

M.Srinivas, a big time retailer whose varied idols line up the footpaths of Mavalli sells a mind boggling 50,000 idols throughout Karnataka and to the U.S. ranging from a humble Rs 10/= to Rs 10,000/=. A few of his master painters are from Kholapur.

Nevertheless the spirit of the festival is palpable at any of these places and as long as the tradition of immersion of the idols continues these potters will be lining up their colouful Vigna Haratas.