TIRUCHY: Ahead of Vinayakar Chaturthi celebrations on August 31, artisans and shopkeepers have been engaged in putting up Ganesha idols for display at various shops and stalls in the district. Owing to a surge in the price of ready-made parts of the idols, the excitement ahead of the celebrations, however, have been relatively low for the artisans this year. Further, low sales have added to the distress, they said.
The idol manufacturers attributed the surge in price to an increase in the cost of raw materials, including paper, cardboard and other materials, sources said. Moreover, the artisans said a delay in getting official approval to commence production of the idols resulted in them losing time for preparation. S Kalaivani from Melakondayampatti near Tiruvanaikoil said,
"We got approval for production from the government only 20 days ago. Thus, we ended up not getting enough time to prepare for production." G Kanagaraj, another idol-maker, said, "We buy ready-made parts for an idol from places like Villupuram and Puducherry.
Later, we make a finished product out of it. Five years ago, the cost of transporting one load of idol parts in a mini-truck stood at around Rs 8,000. It has now increased to Rs 12,000, resulting in us spending more money on transportation of the materials itself."
On the price of the idol parts shooting up over the years, Kanagaraj said, "The cost of buying parts of a four-foot-long idol used to be Rs 2,000. We would then sell the final product at a rate of Rs 7,000. However, at present, the price of the parts itself have gone up to Rs 5,000, resulting in the selling price, too, surging to Rs 14,000. This has led to the customers showing hesitance in buying such idols." Idol-makers N Karunakaran and Kathiravan also spoke of the surge in prices of paint and plaster adversely affecting sales.