KANNIYAKUMARI: The fame attached with Mylaudy’s stone sculptures was reflected in the decorative arch of the Statue of Wisdom when Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated it as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the Ayyan Thiruvalluvar statue in Kanniyakumari in December 2024.
The sculptors in the locality between Nagercoil and Kanniyakumari, however, silently struggle to source the ‘Krishnasila’ stones for their art as its mining has been prohibited locally for the past 15 years.
Ever since the mining of the stone was stopped following opposition from locals over the last 15 years, the artisans have been forced to source the raw material from other areas to keep the art alive. Mylaudy town panchayat president T Vijayalakshmi said that about 3,000 people are involved in the craft that draws customers from as far as Kerala.
Besides making sculptures, the artisans are engaged in temple structural works. K P Gopan of Marayamuttom in Kerala said that he is visiting Mylaudy to place orders for stone arch and other structures for a temple.
With the GI journal pointing to Mylaudy being the centre of Krishnasila art for the last six centuries, sources say the original artisans in the locality mostly hailed from Kazhukumalai, Tirunelveli, Kovilpatti and Sankarankovil for taking up work on the Suchindram temple under the erstwhile Travancore kingdom.
Nadars and other community people in the locality also eventually learned the craft. One such sculptor in Mylaudy, M Rajini Kanth, who is a Dalit, said that the craft has been bridging the people of all communities.
Pointing to the ban on mining for the stone for their art, sculptor R Maruthi Ram said it is now being brought from faraway places, forcing the artisans to sell them at unregulated prices.
Echoing him, sculptor S Ayappan said, “The selling price of a two-foot idol sold for Rs 20,000 now will plunge 40% if the stones are made available locally.”
“The state government should directly supply us the stones at a fixed nominal price,” Maruthi Ram added.
When enquired, geology and mining department officials said that they would consider the grievances of the sculpture and stone workers if they come together and submit them.