On the way to Madampatti, a village near Coimbatore, there is G Pandiarajan, a sculptor, busy with his artwork. “My family has been into carving statues for almost three generations. l learnt the art of statue-making from my father and grandfather. I did not get any special training and the skill should be in my genes. I have five workers with me,” the sculptor told The Covai Post.

“New machines are there to help carving. But I am comfortable with my hands and that gives me fulfilment. We get the stones from Kinathukkadavu, Uthukkuli, Salem, Perundurai and Rasipuram. Our statues are mainly for temples and a few for buildings. We also make statues with cement. It takes three days to complete a cement statue and a stone one at least five days,” he adds.

One of the sculptors R Karuppaiyya says, “It is heartening to note that even the young generation is interested in this kind of art. They study it as a course. They enjoy the work. Now we have students from Government College Mamallapuram coming here to learn the art. But the government has to do more to support this art.”

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V Diwakar from Alandurai said, “I am here to make statues for the temple. I learnt the art from my father. I can make statues in cement and stones. I have also been to a few foreign countries to make statues.”