Dhoolpet market sees dip in Ganesh idols

Dhoolpet: The dusty bylanes of Dhoolpet that used to be agog with idol making activity is now wearing a forlorn look. There has been a slowdown in Ganesh idol making. The rising cost of Plaster of Paris (PoP) and labour are the reasons cited by locals. Nearly, there are 30 artisan families who have been making Ganesha idols for decades and renowned artisans like Sundar Kalakar and Shital Kalakar say that the dip in orders too is also a reason.

Every year, 15,000 to 20,000 Ganesh idols were prepared here in the Dhoolpet market. This year idols seem to be less in number, 25 per cent of the quantity decreased this year because of the heavy prices of material and less labour. Dinesh Singh Hazari, general secretary of Lodha Samaj Association of Dhoolpet told The Hans India that, “There was a time when Dhoolpet Ganesh market artisans would not get much time for making idols, work would begin seven months in advance. A lot of labour is from Maharashtra, Orissa, Bengal and from border areas of Telangana.”

Government has promised that each and every resident of Dhoolpet who stopped selling gudamba would be given a better business and compensation but 75 per cent of the residents haven’t received it. Women also started idol making so that they could earn some money,” says Tinku Singh, a resident of Dhoolpet” “My entire family is into idol making, it has been going on from our ancestors We do not get any loan from banks, the reason being our locality is under blacklist and most of the people don’t even hold an account in any bank and we are urged to take loan from the local financers on high rate of interest because we need to purchase material,” says Surendra Singh an artisan.

Even today there are people from other states who come to Dhoolpet to buy idols. PoP is banned in some states, so they come here said S Singh, an idol maker who has been in the business for two decades.

BY Mohammed Hussain