KENDRAPARA: WITH a few hours left for Rath Yatra, as many as 25 clay idol artists of Kamarakhandi village are ready with the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra near Baladevjew temple here. The clay images are high in demand during the eight days of the car festival.
Suprava Moharana, 48, of village Kamarakhandi has been one of the active artists among the lot. She along with her husband Ranjan Moharana, a sixth-generation chitrakar of the deities, and two daughters make more than 50 clay images of the deities on a day.
“I have been making the idols since the past 30 years. Our family members have been doing ‘Chitrakar Seba’ by painting the stone deities in the temple and the chariot,” said Suprava. Apart from painting the deities 12 times in a year for several ‘beshas’ , the family also makes clay images during the car festival. Two decades ago, over 50 families were practising the art. Today, it has come down to around 25, added Suprava while painting an idol in her thatched house.
Largely women paint the clay images of the Trinity with fabric colours and the price ranges from Rs 50 to Rs 200, informed Suprava. “Our scope of work is restricted now. We also make other images during Dussehra, Kali Puja and diyas during Diwali,” said Ghanashyam Moharana (45), an artisan. This is the time when we sell good as the demand is high, he adds.
The age-old tradition of making clay images of the gods and goddesses however is losing sheen as the current crop of youngsters in these families are not showing interest in the craft. Lamenting the diminishing number of artists, Manoj Moharana, an artisan said, apart from Rath Yatra time, the business is never encouraging on other occasions. So we cannot force our younger generations to continue the art.