Ganeshotsav 2022: Here’s why Mumbai-based Ganpati murtikars are struggling to keep the art alive

Given that Mumbais biggest festival Ganesh Chaturthi is just around the corner idol makers in the city are losing out on sleep to make the perfect Ganesh idolsEvery year Ganeshotsav is celebrated with much fanfare across Maharashtra and other states of the country This year the festival commences on August 31 and Mumbaikars are into the festive mode to bring bappa homeFamous Girgaonbased sculptor Pradeep Maduskar of RV Maduskar Arts recalled how his father started making Ganpati idols in 1939 ldquoMy father Ramkrishna Vishnu Maduskar started this business in 1939 We used to live in a small house of 10by10foot in Zaobawadi Girgaon where he first started with around 25 murtis After a few years when the business picked up my father rented a place and turned it into his workshop From 25 the number went over 200 murtis and that is how the actual business startedrdquo Maduskar sharedPradeep Maduskar at Girgaon workshop PicManjeet ThakurSpeaking about how he got inclined towards being a murtikar sculptor Maduskar shared ldquoI got inspiration from my father I saw him making murtis when I was a kid I learnt the art from him I inherited it from my father I started making murtis in 1980 the year I received my diploma of sculptors from JJ School of Arts and after I joined the business Today we make around 1500 to 1600 murtis every yearrdquoldquoWe make murtis of pure clay shadu which is ecofriendly and faces no problem during immersions This is a major reason why the business saw an uptickrdquo he addedAlso Read Ganesh festival BMC waives off all restrictions on height for private and sarvajanik idolsExplaining the process of how clay murtis are made Maduskar said ldquoMaking murtis is all about skills and how one does it Our murtis are handmade But if we are making 1050 murtis then we make a PoP dye first It takes around two days to make one murti by hand but with the help of the dye we can make four murtis a day However the dye only helps to give a general form The sculptor gives it shape and adds aesthetic touches This way every murtikar should know the artwork When we remove the murti from the dye the body parts ndash legs hands and trunk ndash are separate The murtikar should know how to put it together The jewellery has no dye so the murtikar has to make them by hand Even when it comes to painting the murti it is detailed and every murtikar must do it with precisionrdquoTalking about the challenges that he faced in the business Maduskar informed ldquoThe main challenge is finding sculptors who know the art of making murtis We donrsquot get people easily who are ready to make idols and that is why we do it ourselves This is pure clay work and art so the younger generation avoids stepping into this field There are only a few youngsters who have learnt the artwork and come to work with us Otherwise it is difficult to find people who are ready to make idolsrdquoSharing the financial problems that such murtikars face Maduskar explained ldquoThis is just a oneday business for which we work 364 days No one is willing to give us loans But we managed to get help from our community bank Sanmitra Sahakari Bank They have been lending us a helping hand for about 4050 yearsrdquoThe last two years saw muted celebrations owing to restrictions imposed due to the Covid19 Talking about how it affected the business Maduskar said ldquoWe suffered a lot during the first two years of the pandemic People were less enthusiastic and there were fewer orders of murtis The state government had ordered that gharguti domestic murtis shouldnrsquot be more than two feet and visarjan should be done at home or only at civic bodymade special ponds which many people followed People opted for shadu murtis of one foot so that they can immerse the idols at home This did severely impact our businessldquoDue to the pandemic small shops which made murtis shut down Many workers who went to their villages never returned This is another reason why some murtikars had to shut down their shops In 2019 we received around 1400 idol orders But it dropped in the last two years to 850900 idols In 2020 around 600700 murtis were made and in 2021 we made around 800900 murtis This year we have orders of around 1200 murtisHowever this year there is a little improvementrdquo Maduskar saidAlso Read Mumbai Ayodhya mandir inspires theme for Lalbaugcha RajaSpeaking about how inflation has hit people Maduskar said ldquoPeople are facing financial difficulties due to inflation one of the reasons why people are thinking twice before spending during festivals Earlier people used to celebrate the festival with zest and fervour but now due to the pandemic and price rise that has changedrdquoMidDay visited Vijay Khatu Arts which introduced 2530 ft tall Ganesh murtis in MumbaiReshma Khatu daughter of the famous murtikar Vijay Khatu recalled how the studio started ldquoMy grandfather Ramkrishna Vishwasnath Khatu started it in 1947 After that my dad and my two uncles took it forward Now I am the third generation who is looking after the business Our brand has completed 75 years this yearrdquo she saidReshma Khatu at workshop in Byculla PicManjeet ThakurKhatu said ldquoIn 2017 after my father passed away a lot of work was pending I did not know the field But my dad was wellknown in this field and had created his own brand which is why I wanted to continue his legacyrdquoExplaining how her studio makes murtis of 2026 feet Khatu said ldquoIts like engineering work First the structure and welding work of iron rods is done to make the base Then body parts are made from cast and they are cut according to shape size design and pose Then we put them together and finish the murtis and then paint them at lastrdquoThis year Khatu did not rent the sprawling Central Railway Workshop ground in Parel like she usually does The 2022 orders are being completed at a smaller venue in Bakri Adda near BycullaldquoIn 2019 there was no such thing as permissions But since the outbreak of Covid19 there are many rules and regulations that need to be followed Though this year there are no regulations we took permission for everythingrdquo Khatu explainedSpeaking about how Covid19 impacted the business Khatu said ldquoDue to the pandemic the sculptors went to different industries and now after two years we are finding it difficult to find new workers who can make big murtisrdquoKhatu also said that from this year onwards she will keep a bare minimum scale of operations ldquoEarlier we had fixed orders of about 100150 murtis But from this year I have decided that in the future too I will keep a bare minimum scale of operations We will only make signature faces like Chintamani or Chandanwadi and the quantity will be 1015 And we only accept orders of signature faces and orders of old mandalsrdquo she signed off