Artisans from the villages near Villianur in Puducherry and from Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu have occupied the pavements in front of the commercial complexes along Kosakadai Street with their load of clay.
For the past 10 days, they had been moulding the clay idols of Vinayaka for the Chathurthi festival. However, severe drought in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry seemed to have cast its shadow on the celebrations this year. With just two days left for the Vinayaka Chatruthi celebrations, the shortage of clay to mould idols and vegetables for offerings, had dampened the festival spirit.
Paucity of material
Chellappan, a native of Kalpakkam, who had been travelling for 40 years to Puducherry to sell Vinayaka idols, says that drought had hit the artisans hard. “We are finding it difficult to procure clay to make idols. Earlier, we used to get clay from Manaveli in Puducherry. Over the past two years, we have not been allowed to take clay from there,” he said.
He said that they were forced to buy clay from Kalpakkam which cost them nearly ₹4500. Deivasigamani, another artisan, added that the cost of idols would also increase owing to the shortage. “We would be selling idols ranging from ₹50 to ₹ 500,” he said.
Murugan, from Mangalam, said that people hesitated to spend money to buy clay idols. “We face so many hurdles to procure clay for the idols. People do not understand the labour that goes into making these idols. Over the years, we have reduced our work. We are making only 300 idols this year. The government should not ban artisans from taking clay from the tanks and lakes,” he said.
Opt for other jobs
With no takers and shortage of clay, Murugan said that over the years many artisans had opted for other jobs and the tradition of making clay idols would soon die. Besides, the shortage of vegetables and its soaring prices was likely to affect the festival mood.
