GUNTUR: The Palnadu region of Guntur is known for one of the nation’s amazing art forms, Durgi stone carvings. However, this art form is fast disappearing, with less than 20 sculptors left in this region.This form of stone carving is performed only in Durgi and Obulesunipalle villages, which are about 100 km from the Guntur city.
The craftsmen use limestone for carving out their statues. Abundance of limestone in Palnadu region since many centuries resulted in the craftsmen opting for it as their primary raw material. Sculptors also take up the difficult and tedious task of quarrying soft limestone for their sculptures. Earlier there was no difficulty in acquiring the required limestone, but today it has become very difficult. With dwindling demand for statues carved out of limestone and lack of government support for this artform, the sculptors, who have inherited it from their ancestors, are no more interested in transferring their skills to their sons and daughters.
“The youth of our families are not interested in continuing with this craft,” said Darla Venkateswarlu, a Durgi-based sculptor. It was the sculptors, who gave life to temples by making statues of gods and Durgi sculptors had breathed life into various temples across south India by supplying their finely sculpted statues earlier, he said. But their skill hardly gets any recognition once the ‘pranapratishta’ (act of converting the stone statue into god) is done.
The Palnadu sculptors however, urged the State government to take steps to create awareness about the artform. “If there is government support, we are ready to supply pristine statues across the states. There is an immediate necessity to establish market-sculptor link,” said G Veerabrahmachari, a sculptor. “If the present trend continues, Durgi stone sculpting work will become extinct soon,” said P Bhavani, another sculptor.