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Bhandari Brothers, Karki: The Idol Makers
Karki is a village in Honnavar Taluk in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state, India. It is famous for its cool climate and culture. It is also famous for a manufacturing Lord Ganesh Murtis, for Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
A family in Karki manufactures Ganapati-idols during the season of june to august for Ganesh-Chaturti festival. The family which does this is Bhandari-brothers family. This family is aggressively promoting environment-friendly clay or shadu idols.
Lord Ganesha idols from Karki Bhandari Brothers
After the month June anybody visiting Bhandari’s houses in this little town Karki , has to pass through narrow passages between the Ganesha idols . Most of the family members are busy with Ganesha idol making activities. Ramachndra Bhandari and his three brothers prepare these idols for clients from Karnataka, Uttar Kannada and other cities, and want to start an institute soon to promote the making of such idols.
Keshav Bhandari and his two brothers, Prabhakar and Sathyanaraya, started making clay murtis in the 1980s, at Karki,Uttar Kannada; today, with Karki emerging as a crucial node of Uttar Kannada, Karnataka, the children are continuing that tradition.
Ganesha Statues of different form by Bhandaris
Bhandari brothers make around 250 to 300 idols per year. They don't do extra idols. All the idols are ordered in advance. Orders start from the month of june to even ten days before the festival. People come with different kind of request, photos etc. for order.
Initially they started making the idols for only neighboring houses, relatives and friends but now they are making these idols for public places as well. The size of the idols varies from a feet to six feet tall.
Lord Ganesha idols of clay, from Karki Bhandaris
“Earlier, artisans mostly made clay idols. We have retained that culture and would like to popularise it. These days, most idols are made of plaster of paris because idol-making has been transformed from an art into a profit-making enterprise,” Suresh Bhandari said.
The biggest idol Ramachandra has created this year is six feet tall, for a mandal in Honavar. He has used 10 kg of shadu clay for it, and half a kg of coir (coconut shell hair). He says he uses coir on the wet inner portion of an idol to make the structure sturdy.
These idols look cool once all the works associated with them is finished. But there are a lot of processes that have to be done before giving the final model. Please have a look at this link to see the Process involved in Making Lord Ganesha Idol using Clay.
These are some of the snaps of the idols that the family made last year. Hope this will continue in future also. Artists are always encouraged when their art bought for a good value. Felicitating an artist do encourage but buying their art will encourage them more and demand more contribution from them.
visit Ganesha Idol Gallery-2013 for more photos
visit Eco-friendly Clay Idol Making Process