Shilparamam re-open, provide rustic charm in Hyderabad

Shilparamam in Hyderabad: After almost six months, on the day of Gandhi Jayanti, Shilparamam Arts and Crafts Society units at Madhapur and Uppal opened their gates to the visitors. Both the arts and crafts villages have been closed since March as a preventive measure to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The two Shilparamams at Madhapur and Uppal would be open from 2 pm to 8.30 pm.

People started visiting the crafts village in droves. There were a number of new attractions to make them get over the travails of staying home during the pandemic. Various stalls with rare artefacts beckoned visitors. Strict Covid protocols were maintained by the management.

G Kishan Rao, Special Officer, Shilparamam, said, "As per the instructions from the State and Central governments, Covid preventive norms including maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, etc, are mandatory for visitors. Also, the visitors must bring their own sanitisers and drinking water bottles to avoid gatherings in the arts and crafts villages."

He said that for entry tickets people must maintain a minimum six-yard distance in the queue among themselves. Further, he informed that as Covid precautionary measures, a thermal body temperature scanner and sanitisers have been placed at the entry point. Inside the Shilparamam, officials would be monitoring all visitors to ensure that everyone maintains Covid preventive norms.

Even the stalls have been arranged in an alternate manner to avoid crowding and visitors would not be allowed to rush in groups to the stalls. A majority of the stall owners have responded positively and would be opening their stalls at Madhapur and 25 stalls would be opening at Uppal, Kishan Rao said.

As the arts and crafts villages were closed for the past six months, the lockdown period was utilised to carry out restoration works to retain the authenticity and village originality. Around 10 new sandstone sculptures and new rangoli designs have been added at Shilparamam, Madhapur. The lawns and lakes have been cleaned up and the entire arts and crafts village has been sanitised by spraying disinfectants.

"We are planning to reorganise a small bird park by adding different species of birds at Madhapur. Two terracotta horses installed 25 years back have been replaced with a new pair and many sculptures have been repaired. Previously about 5,000 to 8,000 visitors used to visit Shilparamam at Madhapur and about 2000 visitors at Uppal. On weekends, the footfall used to increase considerably, said the special officer.