For Gonde Lakhmaiah and his team of about half a dozen workers, the day begins early in the morning. They commence work only after having a bath and offering prayers . Similarly, they do not eat non-vegetarian food and also stay away from consuming alcohol.
The workshop of Lakshmaiah is located in an open area adjacent to the Sangareddy-Nanded main road in Alladurg mandal. On visiting the workshop, one can find ‘Dhwaja Stambhams’ (temple flag post) of heights ranging from five to 50 feet. Different designs are carved on the ‘soft rock’ by the sculptors.
This describes how the team works and adores their profession of sculpting. Mr. Lakshamaiah’s family has been in this work of sculpting ‘Dhwaja Stambhams’ since many generations. About eight families in the village are dependent on this profession headed by him.
The rock is brought from a nearby hilly area. After cutting the rock into small pieces, it is carried by cranes to the workshop area where they again cut it into required size. Then the sculpting work begins. All the sculptors do the work manually and machinery is not used at any level. “It takes about 15 days for 15 workers to prepare a ‘Dhwaja Stambham’ and we have to pay Rs. 400 per head per day. Because we do not know any other work we are continuing in this profession,” says Sailu one of the worker. “We sculpt Dhwaja Stambhams ranging between 11 feet and 55 feet and are supplied to Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and even some areas in Maharashtra. However, the profession is losing its shine. This is an art and needs support from government to sustain. Otherwise we have to tell next generations that there used to be artists who moulded rock into work of art ,” Mr Lakshmaiah told The Hindu.
