It has come from father to son like a legacy that comprised clay, dye, colours, brush and dedication towards work and the God. Idol making has come a long way from being just a profession to acquiring the status of an art.And generation after generation, many families have dedicated themselves to this art.

Lalit Chintaman Jawari, 22, is now able to paint the eye, which is the most difficult thing to do. However, he remembers how he had started with painting the base when he was a kid and when he expressed his desire in taking up his father’s profession of idol making. So much so was the interest that he went on to take up a course of Sculpture Diploma at Fine Arts College, Bhartiya Vidya Peeth University.

“I was always interested in painting and that talent found an encouragement when my father allowed me to paint the base of the idols that he made. I graduated to painting of jewelries, clothes and finally the face. All this comes as an achievement for me. At times, when one gets engrossed, one can spend hours together on a single idol and the labour shows on the beauty of the idol that look live, however, the pressure also forces us, at times, to meet deadlines. Thankfully I have not yet compromised on quality because of the deadlines,” says Jawari.

Lalit’s father, Chintaman Dagdu Jawari, who has been in the profession since 1951 when he was eight-year-old, says that he was very happy when his son planned to help him in his profession without giving up his studies. “Earlier we use to spend hours on making a single clay model, now with extensive use of plaster of Paris (POP) we can have as much as eight Ganapati idols in one hour.”

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