Have you ever come across seven-feet tall and five-foot wide Lord Venkateswara’s Thanjavur art piece made up of 22 carat gold and American diamonds? Well, if you have not, then make a visit to Poompuhar crafts mela at Moghal Exhibition Hall, Madhu Chowk in the city.
The price of the above art piece is Rs.7 lakh. There is another Thanjavur art piece of goddess Gajalakshmi with Asta Lakshmi carvings, which is of the similar size and cost. The Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited’s Poompuhar crafts mela has handicrafts, brass articles, bronze icons, wood carvings, rosewood inlay products, stone carvings and etc on a wide display.
“All these artefacts are ideal for decking up the house. Brass lamps, bronze icons, Thanjavur arts and many others are available here, it is really a good collection,” said Sumathi, a visitor.
The objective of organising the exhibition was to provide a platform to artisans to exhibit their products and improve their sales. Such arts are on the verge of extinction and this expo will certainly help the artists to interact with people and promote their products, said R. Narendrabose, Manager, Poompuhar Sales Showroom, Chennai.
In addition to sales and production activities, the handicrafts corporation has the expertise to execute various temple projects like gold, silver and wooden chariots, dwajasthambham, bells, brass queue line arrangements, doors and etc.
It has to its credit certain projects like golden chariot for Lord Venkateswara, brass queue line arrangements for Srikalahasti, Vemulawada, Srisailam, Yadagirigutta in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States, claims Narendrabose.
The exhibition is launched on Tuesday and will remain open until October 6 from 10 a.m to 8 p.m everyday.