Downpour dampens Dussehra, artisans struggle to repair rain soaked effigies

New Delhi: The Ravana effigies, crafted with so much care, were set to go up in flames on Dussehra. But the skies opened up instead, leaving hundreds of artisans scrambling to salvage what they could and despairing over how they will ever recover their losses.

On Wednesday, a day before Dussehra and a day after a sudden downpour in many places in north India, craftpersons were busy trying to cut short their losses. Just two days ago, they were putting final touches to the brightly coloured demon heads and loading their ware onto trucks to be transported for the festive fireworks.

It was to have been a Happy Dussehra. But that is not to be. From Jaipur to New Delhi, that is the refrain.

Business was brisk and Mahendra Pal, a seasoned face at west Delhi’s bustling Titarpur Ravana effigy market, was looking forward to a Dussehra of plenty -- until the rain quite literally washed his happiness away.

“We wait all year and work day and night for over a month, but this rain has brought huge losses,” 75-year-old Pal, who has been in the business of making effigies for nearly 50 years, told PTI.

He had created more than 25 effigies ranging in size from five to 50 feet. Some were trucked out to clients but more than 10 still remained. Most of these, costing about Rs 400-700 per feet, are now damaged.

Except for the smaller ones that can be stored inside their makeshift homes, most effigies are lined up on roads “Just like support is given during natural disasters, we urge the district magistrate, Delhi government, the chief minister, the Centre, and our local MLA and MP to treat this as a disaster and help us," Pal said.

Titarpur, Asia’s largest market for the 10-headed demon king and his brothers, is miles away from Jaipur’s famed Ravana mandi on Rajasthan's busy Gopalpura bypass.

The images are the same though - as is the sense of disbelief. Soaked and broken torsos, limbs, demon heads and intricately woven bamboo frames lie damaged and bent, crowding the dividers and pavements. Much of the paint has been washed away.

In the midst of this chaos, artisans can be seen working feverishly, trying to repair the damage. Some are redoing the paperwork, carefully layering fresh paper on the torn down frames while others are dismantling the effigies that were yet incomplete.

Gordhan, an artisan near Gurjar ki Thadi on Gopalpura bypass in Jaipur, found to his dismay that all the large effigies crafted by his family were ruined in the rain. It was impossible to repair them in just one day and ship them across the country.

“We are now focusing on the smaller effigies that we managed to protect under tents,” he said.

Gordhan explained that while some effigies can still be repaired, restoring them to a marketable condition will require great effort.

Like many others, he and his family members have been working tirelessly to prepare the effigies for sale but the unexpected downpour put paid to their hard work.

“The losses are piling up but we hope repairing the smaller effigies will help reduce the damage,” Gordhan said.

While Satpal Rai, an effigy maker from Titarpur, faces losses running into lakhs of rupees, Baju, an artisan from Jaipur who borrowed Rs 1 lakh to create around 200 effigies this season, is uncertain if he’ll be able to recover the amount -- let alone make any profit.

Most of the artisans are daily wage labourers who make these effigies in hope to earn an extra buck or more during the festive season.

As the hours tick by, the artisans are working in full force to restore as much of the damage as possible.

The smaller effigies, which are less affected by the rain, are the only hope for many families. But even as they struggle to repair and replace materials, there is a looming uncertainty.

"I made over 51 effigies. Only 22 have been delivered so far. The remaining ones were damaged by the rain. We're trying to repair as many as we can, but we’re running against time. There’s very little we can do now. The festival is ruined for us," said Ajay, an effigy vendor in Titarpur.

Potential buyers are seen wandering through the rows of effigies in several effigy markets, inspecting the damaged and partially repaired figures with a keen eye. Some are bargaining with the artisans, while others seem more focused on finding the best possible effigy from the bunch.