DELHI, INDIA, September 11, 2021 (Sputnik International): Every August, Suraj Padhyal from the Indian state of Rajasthan travels about 170 km from Jaipur to Delhi accompanied by his two brothers and their wives. For the next three months, they devotedly create sculptures, mainly of Lord Ganesha, and Goddesses Lakshmi and Durga. The Padhyal family is not alone. There are many other such families who await this time of the year with immense enthusiasm, hoping for a good income to survive on the rest of the year.
As per tradition, ardent devotees of Ganesha, the Lord of Auspiciousness, prosperity, and happiness, bring home His murthi and worship it. They host the Deity for three to eleven days. Later, these murthis are immersed with reverence in rivers, lakes or even wells to bid farewell to the divine guest for the year.
This year, as the celebrations for Ganesh Chaturthi begin, the Padhyal family has only been able to sell 27 of their 110 Ganesh murthis. Suraj Padhyal shared that this year they have failed to even recover their basic costs. “Hardly, 20 percent of the murthis got sold. We cannot keep them for next year, as the storage price is too high and they’re delicate. These murthis are mostly made of clay”.
Asked about what will happen to all the idols they’ve already made, he said: “We will try to sell these murthis during the upcoming festival of lights Diwali, slated for 5 November, when Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi are worshipped in houses. Otherwise, we will immerse them”.
Pre-Covid these murthis used to be placed in makeshift temples along roadsides or in colonies, or other public places, however, due to the pandemic, the government has restricted public celebrations to prevent large crowds from gathering. But all these measures have badly affected the livelihoods of small-scale sculptors or people who sell murthis.
https://sputniknews.com/20210911/hard-times-covid-looms-over-ganesha-festivities-as-indian-sculptors-fear-worst-is-yet-to-come-1088937508.html