Amma dolls most sought after this Golu season in Tamil Nadu
TIRUCHY: He has a special skill to bring all former Indian leaders to life in the form of Golu dolls. V Chinnadurai (47), a city-based artisan, always strived for innovation in her work. For this year’s ‘Bomma Golu’, he has introduced one-ft- tall idol and a bust of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Navarathri is celebrated for nine days and mythology has it that Goddess Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Parvathy transform into various avatars to destroy Mahishasura.
This time, Jayalalithaa’s idol has been gaining popularity in Tiruchy and other districts.
Chinnadurai of Mela Kondaiyampatti in Thiruvanaikovil inherited his father’s family business. With production units across the State, the supply chain has been expanding to other states.“For all my life, I have seen how my father had spent his lifetime as an artisan. Now, I follow his guidelines along with my knowledge on current affairs,” Chinnadurai said. He started such works in 1984, when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated. The next Navarathri, he made a replica of the former Prime Minister and gained appreciation. Later, he worked on idols of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and former President A P J Abdul Kalam.
After readying one-ft-tall bust of Jayalalithaa, he sent the samples to 10 different centres across the State to gain support for his product. The response was overwhelming and many have placed bulk orders for the ‘Amma’ idol. The bust of Jayalalithaa costs `450 and the one-ft-tall idol costs `750. Chinnadurai uses clay from farm land and filters it. He soaks the clay in a trough of water and rolls it into balls. The third process, includes moulding, after which it is dried and baked. “For painting, a rough coating is given first, and then its coloured in multiple shades,” said Chinnadurai.With just a few days left for Navathri, Chinnadurai’s son is busy marketing his father’s produce through social media platforms.
GST exemption a good reason to expand biz
The recent exemption of Goods and Services Tax on white clay and China clay has given Chinnadurai a good reason to focus on increasing his business doubly in the 2017-18 fiscal. With just a few days left for Navarathri, Chinnadurai’s son is busy marketing his father’s produce through social media platforms. He intends to sell 160 sets of Golu idols and about 260 individual ones