In the Kolar district of Karnataka, is situated a village called Shivarapatna where the sculptors’ art goes beyond the boundaries of religion. For instance, these days, sculptor Saeed Munawar is occupied in giving finishing touches to statues of Lord Ganesh, Hanuman, Shiv, and Maa Saraswati using his electric cutter, hammer and chisel.
He has been making sculptures to earn a living for the last 35 years and work has finally boosted up yet again, post the corona period. As told by Munawar, he had entered the field of sculptures because of master sculptor Tyagrajacharya.
“I am into piece-work, which means, things like the stone and design all belong to the master sculptor. The final touch on any statue’s face is given by a master sculptor”, he said.
Munawar then added that as a result, the last step involves carving the eyes and finally, the statue is consecrated with mantras and puja.
It is to be noted that every sculptor in the village follows certain rules at work, like removing footwear outside the workshop. Shivarapatna has a population of 3000 and has merely three Brahman families, more than 300 Vishwakarma families and 100 Muslim families.
Here, every festival, no matter whether it is Eid, Muharram, Akshaya Tritiya or Ganesh Chaturthi, is celebrated by all the villagers together. The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with a wholesome play, watched by the whole village.
