Bidadi: Do you wish to see amazing carvings in stone, wood, clay, bronze, etc. by well-known sculptors in one place? You can actually do it at the Yuva Shilpi Swa-sahaya Sangha (Young Sculptors' Self-Help Group) formed by young sculptors at Bidadi in Ramanagaram Taluk of Bangalore Rural District.

According to Mr Nataraj, a member of the Sangha, this association is one of its kind in the State. At the Sangha, each sculptor has to contribute some amount every month and the amount so collected would be deposited in the Bank. Further, this amount would be utilised either for Sangha's activities or loaned to the members of the Sangha to meet their requirements.

Narrating the benefits of the Sangha, Mr Nataraj says, when the Sangha gets a lot of orders for carving a variety of statues, idols, etc., the work is attended to by all the sculptors collectively to finish the task within the stipulated time. On the other hand, if any individual sculptor gets many orders, the work is distributed amongst all the members of the Sangha so that the work is completed earlier than expected.

According to Mr Nataraj, taking reliability into account, people prefer to place carving orders in the name of the Sangha rather than give it to individual sculptors. Sometimes, when the Sangha requires money to complete the task undertaken, it avails a bank loan at a concessional rate of interest, says Mr Nataraj.

The Sangha has many state award winners like Raghavendra Bilgi and V Somasekhar as its members. At present, the members of the Sangha are involved in the carving of 32 varieties of Lord Ganapa in wood.
For more details, contact: 98456 38212

A Devaraju