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Passion for idol making fuels this Palakkad couple

A Satish

PALAKKAD: A board reading ‘Vijaya Shilpa Kalaikoodam’ beckons one to K Palani and KP Vijaya’s traditional house in New Kalpathy, Palakkad. Inside the house is an array of hand-crafted dolls and idols in various sizes and shapes, painted in vibrant colours. You could pick up dolls that are priced anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 3,500 here.

Most of these dolls will find their way to the colourful bommai kolu (an arrangement of dolls) that would be set up in traditional Tamil Brahmin homes on Sunday as part of Navaratri celebrations. Seeing the divinely resplendent ‘gods and goddesses’, it is hard to digest the fact that one of their makers is physically disabled. Vijaya, 50, lost an arm in a fire accident in her childhood, but that did not stop her from pursuing a craft she loved. From moulding clay and papier mâché to painting, Vijaya does all the work with one arm.

An ace artisan, she puts her heart and soul into the idols. Right from placing orders for the raw materials to organising sales.Vijaya’s passion as well as grit are evident in the way she conducts business. And her husband Palani, 55, shares the passion, and ensures steadfast support.

Today, Vijaya and Palani are familiar names in Palakkad. Vijaya picked up the craft from her family, which has been in the idol-making business for the past 65 years.“I grew up watching my parents, Dandapani and Mangalam, and my grandparents making idols,” she says.

“When I got married to Palani, who hails from Chennai, I learnt that he, too was passionate about the craft. That made things easier.”With Navaratri round the corner, Vijaya and Palani have been busy. Orders have been pouring in, a welcome change after two years of pandemic gloom.

Palani painting the idols at the couple’s house

“Life became a struggle,” says Vijaya. “No one wanted the idols. Obviously, purchasing idols was not a priority for people caught in the crisis. I had availed of the Kaivalya loan, a self-employment assistance scheme for the differently-abled, and have been repaying it with great effort.”

Vijaya and Palani make the dolls from scratch. “We source clay, paper pulp, tapioca powder, gilt, varnish and paints from various places in Tamil Nadu,” says Palani. “The clay is bought from Coimbatore and Pollachi. We have a small kiln in our house. If there are larger orders, we put up a bigger kiln outside the village and fire the clay. Similarly, the high-quality varnish we use is available only in select stores of Tamil Nadu.”

Besides doll-making, the duo also undertake the task of painting palanquins (pallak) in temples. The couple has two children – Subith Kannan, who works with a company that provides online academic assistance to students, and Bhuvaneswaran, who is pursuing a course in fine arts and design from Alagappa University in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu.

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