Tirupati: Here, Ganesh idol makers adopt new themes to sustain demand

Tirupati: Their one and only livelihood for them is making Ganesh idols. The entire family, men, women and children take various roles in the idol making which go on through a year to meet the demand they receive from various places mostly in Karnataka and Chennai city.

For the past 20 years, 70 families living in Bommala Quarters on the city outskirts engaged in making of Ganesh idols. They go on adopting new techniques, style, new themes in idol making and also turned the idol making eco-friendly which saw them sustain by retaining the demands for their idols. Balayya, one of the senior idol maker, said in the beginning there were only 20 families belonged to traditional potters (Kummari) community in the small colony, started idol making, which soon increased to 70 and the colony also known as Bommala Quarters with the popularity of idols increasing manifold.

“We have set up a union to protect and promote our interest,” he said informing that the idol making for them is a year-long process. However, the Corona pandemic hit our livelihood but after that we are able to recover thanks to bankers and also supply orders resuming, he said observing “Our success is our ability to make the idols as per the thoughts and aspirations of people approaching us. Our products are hundred percent eco-friendly as they were made of biodegradable paper mixed with chemical free paste, ensuring no hurdles from government agencies. We have wide range of products of various sizes based on novel themes like Balabadi Vinayaka, Carroms Vinayaka, Garuda Vinayaka, Bala Vinayaka etc.”

Though Ganesh idol making is our sole livelihood option, our families did not miss providing good education to our children including higher education, stated many women in the colony revealing that how the traditional potter families keeping abreast of changes and availing many opportunities to tide over unforeseen difficulties like Corona.