MYSORE: Of late, the number of divorce cases is on the rise. In order to educate married couples on how to lead a happy conjugal life, a artist from Bihar is creating terracotta artifacts at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya.
The 59-year-old artist, Lala Pandit and his son Shankar Kumar Pandit from Bihar, is crafting nine idols, all related to folk art, but centred around a happy married life.
“These traditions belong to the Darbhanga. Each artifact depicts how married couples should lead their life. Right from offering prayers it explains how couples should co-ordinate with each other while performing their daily household chores,”said Lala Pandit.
“In our culture, we bring fish placed in a bucket of water and remove them when they are still alive. We show the struggling of a fish to the newly weds and explain their lives will be just like the fish out of water, if they allow misunderstandings between them,” he added.
To depict this, he has created a woman carrying fish.
Artifacts of Lord Naga and Nagin (Snakes) are also on display. “In Hindu tradition, it is believed that if there is ‘Sarpa Dosha’, the couple will not be blessed with children.
Soon after the marriage, the couple pray near ‘Naga-Nagin’. We believe by praying, the curse will be removed,” said Pandit.
Each artifact weighs about 60 kg and is about 3 ft in height. These terracotta structures will be put up for permanent display in the backyard of Indira Gandhi Rashtirya Manav Sangrahalaya along with several other tribal artifacts already housed there.
The artiste said that there was good demand for his work across the world and the duo have already exhibited their work in Japan, Italy and America. The family is continuing the legacy of creating such artifacts.
“I get many orders from across the country and outside too. I feel happy when foreigners express curiosity to learn the art form and take it to their country. We get orders from caretakers of gardens and temples and also some residential houses who wish to keep our artifacts on display as part of landscaping. All we need is to preserve and take the legacy of terracotta to the next generation,” said both father and son.