AAKANSHA CHARI
For 40 years, Nagesh Kudnekar’s routine has included clay, tools, and absolute focus to capture the innocence, purity, and supreme divinity of Lord Ganesha
“In the beginning my friends used to help me visualise and shape the ‘shadu mati’ into the idol. The main workshop is based in Amona. But later, I started making idols in my own home in Cudnem due to transportation problem. I was born and raised in this village, thus I felt motivated in carrying this generational practice instead of giving up on it,” he shares.
Traditional clay idol makers do not look at their craft as just a manufacturing job, but rather it is treated as a sacred act of devotion. Kudnekar sculpts the first idol at the Amona workshop and performs the inception ritual by lighting incense and offering ‘prasad’ directly to unembellished, unadorned clay form. After performing the ritual, he then proceeds to shape the remaining clay into more idols. Against all odds, he still manages to make around 60- 70 idols every season.
If he could, he says, he would make many more idols, but as a lone artisan there are hurdles that prevent this. “Apart from finding the suitable clay, the process of mixing and preparing it before it is sculpted into idols is the major challenge that I face. As the ‘shadu-mati’ is highly dense, it needs to be continously pressed, folded and punched,” he explains, adding that hundreds of kilograms have to be prepared daily during the peak season. He states that while the government distributed kneading machines in other parts of the state, it did not reach them.
He mentions that the today’s youth are not enthusiastic enough to learn and carry forward these sculpting practices. “The public prefers Plaster of Paris idols over ‘shadu-mati’ only because they are lightweight and cheap, while ‘shadu-mati’ idols are moderately heavy,” he says.
After the idols are ready, Kudnekar reveals that it makes his heart full to see the art that he has shaped. “Every corner of our house is filled with vibrant hues of spirituality,” he says, adding that once people come to take home these idols, he is left with an overwhelming feeling. “The house is eventually left without any smell of earth and paint, and only lingering silence,” he says.
