Tribal smith chisels god’s images to make a living

Nagarkurnool: When the world on one hand is fast catching up with modernity and technology, while on the other, here is a man - Mudavath Pratap Singh of Lattupally village in Bijinapally mandal of Nagarkurnool district, who still believes in beholding the traditional values and ethos of Lambada tribal culture. 

Pratap sing, who studied up to 9th class only, has realised that most of the educated Lambada tribals have adopted modern life styles and shifted their houses from tribal tandas to urban areas and forgotten their traditional and cultural practices. 

Then he was decided to serve them as an exclusive tribal gold smith by expertising his skills in carving out tribal deities of various forms of Goddess Maha Shakti.
 
“In fact, the business of carving out ornaments exclusive for tribal community people has been coming from my ancestors and forefathers for the past three to four centuries. Now that most of the Lambada community tribes are educated and busy with their jobs in urban areas and forgetting our tribal rituals, our cultural ethos and values imparted by our tribal elders, which are very important for protecting our tribal community,” says Pratap Singh, the tribal gold smith. 

Carrying forward the skills imparted from his forefathers and ancestors, Pratap Singh has become popular as a tribal gold smith in this part of Bijinapally area. Serving exclusively for the Lambada community by carving out God’s images in gold and silver, Pratap Singh not only makes the images of deities, but also an expert in designing tribal ornaments worn by Lambada women. 

Pratap Singh is also serves as a knowledge imparter to tribal communities and teaches them the traditional rules and regulations to perform prayers to tribal deities. 

“It’s been more than 30 years now, I have been serving exclusively for the Lambada tribes by carving out the images of sacred deities like Tulja Bhavani, Amba Bhavani, Hingala Bhavani, Merama Bhavani, Shakti Bhavani and other forms of Shakti Mata, worshipped by them every year. In fact, I am the family gold smith of at least one lakh Lambada tribal communities in the districts of Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy,” informed Pratap Singh. 

By A Raju