HAVERI: A small, one-road village, Nulageri, is one of thousands of such hamlets across the state. However, what sets Nulageri apart from the others is the presence of three families here. Located in Haveri district, far from any major roads, Nulageri is surrounded by temples and these three families are responsible for the sculptures that adorn many of these places of worship.
Meet the Mayacharis, a family which has been in the sculpting business for the past eight decades. During the time of the British rule, the family had a special licence to make idols of Shiva, Hanuman, Ganesh, Lord Basavanna. Later they also went on to make statues of well known national figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Kanakadasa and Akka Mahadevi.
Walk into the village and you will see three houses with sculptures lying out on the street. Gods and Goddesses, intricate designs in stone, and several of the building blocks needed to produce such art are stacked high on the street. The finished sculptures sometimes make their way to faraway Tamil Nadu or Goa.
Nagaraj Mayachari, 28, a third generation sculptor says, “I have an M.Tech degree and I finished my post graduation from a college in Bengaluru in 2017. I worked there for three months but was not satisfied with the job as most of the time I found myself stuck in traffic. Work hours were odd and since I already had a family business as well as training in sculpture making, I decided to join other members of the family in this endeavour.”
Nagaraj speaks with fondness for his grandfather, Nagalinghachari, who started it all. “Around 85 years ago, he started making stone sculptures and he was quite popular for the sculptures. He taught the art to his two sons Mruthyunjaya and Somashekar,” Nagaraj says.
Mruthyunjaya, Nagaraj’s father says, “My son suddenly called me last year and said he wanted to continue in the family profession of sculpting. I am happy with this decision as it is our family job. We have a name for ourselves as sculptors across North Karnataka and my brother and his sons are also in the same field.”
Talking about the process, Nagaraj explains, “We use Chickkagallikeri stone from Bagalkot, Krishna stone, diamond stone and we even sculpt using marbles from Rajasthan. We charge for the statues on a per foot basis. Most of our statues are between three and five feet tall.” These past few years have seen a steady rise in business for these families as villages take up temple renovation work or decide to build new places of worship. His father pitches in with some advice.
“The job requires patience and craftsmanship. Customer satisfaction becomes the most important thing. As of now we have not hired any workers as almost all family members are involved in statue making.”
Dearth of stones a major problem
According to sculptors, it takes between 15 and 20 days to finish one sculpture, if they can source the stones that is. “Due to mining issues, the government is not ready to supply stones. If we get a good quality stone, it will show in the end results as well as the statue will be beautiful. We can continue our work only if the government provides stones under a special dispensation,”
Mruthyunjaya says before he adds with a sigh, “The government however has not shown much interest to make the art form popular.” The family is willing to teach anyone interested, the tricks of the trade.