Tamil Nadu: Traditional artisans warn against disfiguring idols in name of customisation

TIRUCHY: The Lord Vinayakar, despite being flexible to his devotees about his posture, size and places of installation, the traditional idol makers warn the people for disfiguring the Lord in the name of customisation, which would invoke a divine curse and even result in a negative impact.

While the commercial idol makers customise Vinayakar just to allure the customers, the traditional idol makers are never involved in such customisation.

“Vinayakar is a God, and we should give him respect. We even commence our preparations for the idol making with special pooja and despatch them to the customers after pooja and special arathi because we should give due reverence to the God,” says P Manikandan.

He said that they give prominence to the 'Rajapeetam' (Royal pedestal) initially, where Lord Vinayakar is seated.

“My father Periyasamy used to tell us that we are making idols and we should give prominence to the deity and not any other attractions, and we have been following this. Our products depict Vinayakar seated majestically, and there is no compromise in it,” he said.

However, the visibly furious Manikandan said that a few people approached him to customise Vinayakar with the signature hand posture of the Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay in the Assembly, and they offered even more than the actual price.

“Without waiting, I refused the offer. It is very easy to make Vinayakar in such a posture. A minor change in the hand will do, but it is not sensible. We should give due importance to Godly matters. Such meaningless customisation would result in a negative impact on the personality, health, and career,” Manikandan, who opted to vote for TVK during the Assembly election, said.

He also stressed that making such an unsensible posture in Vinayakar would even invoke a divine curse on the idol makers too, and so we are very particular about it, he stressed. He showed a few idols in various sizes and said that all his products would depict Vinayakar in high regard.

Echoing the same, G Jai Shankar, owner of Manicka Vinayakar Agencies in Mela Kondayampettai, said that most of the artisans belong to the traditional potter community and they have venerated their trader for generations, and so they never deviate from the tradition.

Jai Shankar mentioned that a few traditional idol makers even observe fast before the commencement of the manufacturing work.

“We fear that any harm by any means to the idol would invoke a divine curse and so we never deviate from the tradition by giving priority to the God,” Jai Shankar added.