Twashta Kasar, the coppersmith community in Kasba peth, have kept their craftsmanship alive through the annual Ganeshotsav celebrated in the city and they use the festival as a platform to encourage others of the same trade. The community is known for its eco-friendly decor.
This year, the community has decided to give their decor a cultural twist by incorporating Maharashtrian designs with Bengali art. The involvement of artisans from the eastern part of the country will see a fusion of Bengali art of designing sculptures with the idol-making forms of western India. For this, the community has brought in skilled craftsmen from West Bengal.
“I will be using Bengali art for making the idol of Goddess Jyotiba for the immersion procession of the Twashta Kasar Samaj Ganeshostav. The idol will be made from special clay which has been brought from the river Ganga which flows through Kolkata,” said Sameer Chakravarty, a craftsman from Mednipur district, West Bengal.
“The idol will be made from clay, bamboo, straw and natural dye. The idol will also have intricate designs. We have been given a small workshop in Kasba peth next to Hutmata Bhagat Singh Mandal. We will be using 30 bags of clay for sculpting the idol,” added Chakravarty.
“We have heard a lot about Bengali style of craving and making statues using clay and straws which makes it eco-friendly. The art also has elaborate use of colours and etchings which is used especially to make Durga idols during Durgotsav in the city. Hence, this year we thought of inviting these craftsmen for our decoration,” said Amod Wadke, secretary Twashta Kasar Samaj Ganeshostav.
{{/usCountry}}“We have heard a lot about Bengali style of craving and making statues using clay and straws which makes it eco-friendly. The art also has elaborate use of colours and etchings which is used especially to make Durga idols during Durgotsav in the city. Hence, this year we thought of inviting these craftsmen for our decoration,” said Amod Wadke, secretary Twashta Kasar Samaj Ganeshostav.
{{/usCountry}}Sandeep Kadu, president of Twashta Kasar Samaj Ganeshostav, said, “We wanted to have a completely eco-friendly decoration this year which would make us stand out from the crowd, hence, we thought of giving the responsibility of the immersion procession decoration to these craftsman from West Bengal. We are known for our eco-friendly Ganesh idols which are carved out of Shammi wood. We were also the first mandal in Pune to shun the use of gulal (vermillion) in 1993.”
“We are working diligently to create this master piece. This is the first time, wherein, we will incorporate Maharashtrain designs with Bengali art. Everything will be handmade and we are making the idol of Jyotiba, using the idea of Ganesh, as depicted in the Durga tableau,” said Chakravarty.
Kadu added, “We are eagerly waiting to see the finished product. The idol will be mounted on a truck with our Ganesh idol on the day of the immersion procession.”