With COVID restrictions in place, sculptors facing troubling times
   Date :21-Jul-2020

Ravishankar Prajapati_1&n
 Ravishankar Prajapati busy in making small idols for Ganesh Utsav. (Pic by Anil Tiwari)
 
Staff Reporter :
 
Administrative restrictions on manufacturing and installation of idols of deities during religious festivals is proving troublesome for traditional artisans. Jabalpur is known for traditional art of making big and beautiful idols of deities which is ancestral business of a large number of families of artisans. Following the global pandemic of novel coronavirus, the district also faced lockdown and several restrictions to check the spread of infectious disease.
 
The situation leads to enforce restrictions on installation of idols in festivals like Ganesh Utsava and Navratra in which several religious committees install idols of deities. A famous sculptor of Chhaya Kala Kendra in Sheetlamai area, Ravishankar Prajapati, while talking to ‘The Hitavada’, informed that annual income of his family relies on making of idols during Ganesh Utsav, Navratri, Narmada Jayanti, Holi and several other festivals of different communities.
 
Around one dozen families of his relatives engaged in the same business also lived in the locality. They have already faced dire circumstances during lockdown and restriction on size of idols upto 3-feet has badly hampered their income. Ravishankar said that he is not aware with the technicalities of COVID-19 and the government and administration are taking decisions for public protection, but they should take cognizance on the situation of persons engaged in unorganised sector like him for providing them right of equality to live.