The business of Ganesh idol-making is changing rapidly every year in tune with the demand and supply in Chittoor district. The trade, which was concentrated in a few pockets a decade ago, has now spread to every municipality and mandal headquarters.
The business, which earlier saw artisans in some hundreds, now runs into crores. Traders from the northern States, particularly Rajasthan, have entered the idol-making business in the district, thereby giving the local artisans and traders a tough time.
Thousands of tonnes of plaster of Paris (called pindi in Telugu) is procured and the work goes on round the clock. Despite the repeated appeals of civic bodies and voluntary organisations to use “environmental friendly” material, the idols are predominantly made of plaster of Paris and high-metallic paints.
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Many suppliers
Idol-making units could be seen along national and State highways, on the outskirts of Madanapalle, Punganur, Puttur, Nagari and Palamaner, with many mushrooming in the Chittoor municipal corporation.
Arjun Kishan (30), a youth from Rajasthan along with his spouse, siblings and a group of relatives had set up his industry on the outskirts of Puttur two years ago. “We get material from a businessman in Tirupati. Every year, we make about 1,000 idols, with height ranging from 3 to 12 feet. We use plaster of Paris. We think of profits and losses only after the festival is over,” he says.
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Rajesh, another youth from Rajasthan, with his unit near Nagari, said there was a visible change this year compared to last year.
“In 2018, despite drought-like conditions, there was excitement everywhere due to busy political scenario. Youth and local leaders from several villages around placed orders for idols with height up to 10 feet. Now, the scene is completely missing. With only a few days left for the festival, the orders we got now are negligible, plummeting by over 70%. The situation has been the same for a month,” he said.