The lord of tattoos

Tattoos depicting religious symbols have become extremely popular. An increasing number of youngsters in the city have started getting religious symbols and images of Gods tattooed on their body. The elephant-headed deity, Ganesha seems to be a favourite among the youth.

Most youngsters consider Ganesha as a friendly pot-bellied bestower of wisdom and success. Ramesh, a student at Christ University has a Ganesha tattoo on his shoulder. He says it protects him from evil and helps him in his exams. “I just have to look at it before writing my exams and everything goes smoothly,” he says. The tattoo also gives him the required emotional balance to handle the everyday problems in life.

Neha, a student at Mount Carmel College says she has tattooed ‘Om Ganeshaya Namah’ on her wrist. “It gives me courage and reduces anxiety,” she says. “Besides, Ganesha was the first God I started worshipping as a child,” she adds.

If tattoo artists are to be believed, the market is growing rapidly. They say that most youngsters, who come for tattoos, know exactly what they are looking for. “They give us a rough idea and we fine tune the design,” says Rolan of Dark Arts tattoo studio. “Just last week, we had a customer who asked for a tattoo with Ganesha standing on one leg. The person was a staunch follower of Ganesha right from childhood,” Rolan says.

“Our customers are mainly from the IT industry - in the 20-35 years age bracket,” says Girish of Brahma Tattoo studio. According to him, the young professionals are not aware of rituals, but have religious spirit. 

There seems to be no gender disparity here as both men and women make up the clientele. “We get around two to three people on weekdays and about eight to ten on weekends” says Rolan.

The price varies depending on the size of the tattoo which may sometimes even run up to lakhs of rupees. “The minimum that we charge is Rs 3,500 for a tattoo of four square inches,” says Rolan. It costs an additional Rs 600 for every extra inch. Discounts are given depending on the size of the tattoos. “The bigger the tattoo the more discount the customer gets,” adds Rolan.