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As quoted from Wikipedia: Chittorgarh Fort is considered to be the largest fort of India in terms of area. It is stated that the fort was constructed by the Mauryans during the 7th century AD and hence derives its name after the Mauryan ruler, Chitrangada Mori as per inscriptions on coins of the period. Historical records show Chittorgarh fort as the capital of Mewar for 834 years. It was established in 734 AD by Bappa Rawal, founder ruler in the hierarchy of the Sisodia rulers of Mewar. It is also said that the fort was gifted to Bappa Rawal as part of Solanki princess’s dowry in the 8th century.
Finally I am back on flickr. I was away as I had loads of Ganesha works pending. As promised, the colored picture of the Ganapathi is here. Please see the unpainted version of the similar idol here. This time we made around 27 of them. You can see the detailed pictures of other idols here
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It's Ganesh Chaturthi today in India - a celebration of the elephant God. A very happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all :)
A glimpse into the colors and sights from the celebrations at home in the comments.
This is an idol made by me by hand. We have a tradition in our family of making these Ganesha idols and give it to our family members and close friends. We make around 33 idols every year. My uncle, my father and I know the art of making them. We do not use any moulds or machines to make them. It is purely made by hand. All that we use is a small wooden stick to groove/mark the designs on the ornaments.
It all started like this: (as told by my father) My great grand father had a wish that he wanted to offer prayers to a hand made ganesha and he seldom found one. Knowing this, my grandfather tried once using pure clay and for his luck it turned out to be a master piece. Then he started doing it every year for the Vinayak Chaturthi. This attracted relatives and friends and he started making idols for them also. Later my father and my uncle joined his hands to cater to the demands.
I began making clay idols as early as when I was 6. I used to sit with my uncle and my dad and help them roll clay to make ornaments. Initially my work did not meet the requirements; either they were not fully perfect or improper shapes. But I persisted and now kind of mastered the art. My uncle is my guru, he has taught me and shaped my art. Thanks to both my father and uncle. No one in our family knows this art. I am lucky to get the hang of it and hopefully I will keep up the tradition.
The making of idols need lots of effort, we need to soften the clay, take out impurities and all. The most important thing is that we need to find the Clay - Yes proper soft pure clay which is now becoming a challenge for us. We do paint them using poster solvable colors which are more eco friendly. When the idols are immersed in water, the idol does not harm the aquatic animals or plants. We do this work with great sanctity. There is a huge demand for these hand made pure idols but we are keeping this low as we would be able to meet the demands. We reject the demands on face as we know we can not make more than that. None of us have the free time. My uncle, aged 76, and my father, aged 74, can not afford to do more than this. My uncle takes the major chunk of doing around 20 and I and my father together finish the remaining. I would upload the colored finished ones when we start coloring them.
This is not from pottery town :-)