BHUBANESWAR: If Fani cyclone in 2019 destroyed all their goods and raw materials, the Covid-19 outbreak a year later broke their financial backbone. But things are finally looking up for applique (Chandua) artisans of Pipili. With five days to go for the Rath Yatra, which will be held with public participation after two years, the applique artisans are burning midnight oil to meet the large-scale orders they have received not just within and outside the State but also from Odia associations abroad where the Trinity’s Car Festival would be celebrated in a grand manner this time.
Traditionally, ‘Darji’ seveyats of Puri stitch the colourful applique canopies that are used in the three chariots of Puri - Taladhwaja of Lord Balabhadra, Debadalana of Maa Subhadra and Nandighosha of Lord Jagannath. However, in places outside Puri where Rath Yatra is celebrated, the applique cloth and decorations for the chariots are made in Pipili with devotees and temple managements placing orders after Akshya Tritiya.
This year, the Chandua artisans have received orders from Jagannath and ISKCON temples in New Delhi (Hauz Khas), Baroda, Guwahati, four places in Kolkata, Durgapur, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. Besides, there are orders from America, Canada, Fiji, Melbourne, Siberia and Nigeria.“Applique products which are sought after during Rath Yatra are cloth for the chariots, ‘Chandua’, ‘Chhati’, ‘Tarasa’ and ‘Alata’, among other things. This Rath Yatra, artisans of the crafts village have earned a business of nearly 75 per cent of what it was in 2019,” said Benudhar Mohapatra, president of Pipili Applique Cooperative Society.
While as per the Directorate of Handicrafts, applique artisans are spread across the State, the largest concentration of 3,429 craftspersons is based in Pipili. And 40 per cent of this workforce is women. Benudhar, however, said the number of artisans was almost double prior to Covid-19 outbreak.Arakhita Mohapatra, another artisan, said during Covid-19, none of the artisans in Pipili received any order. As a result, around 50 per cent of the artisans shifted to other trades like selling vegetables, paan or taking up construction work as masons. Many also migrated to other states for work.
“Only artists who had Chandua shops and workshops in Pipili survived the pandemic. The rest took up other work for their livelihood and have not returned yet,” said Arakhita who also owns a shop in the 500-metre main road stretch of Pipili.
