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Purana
01 May 2012, 11:13 PM
Dear all, other than being a devotee, I also admires arts that associated with the religion as well. They can be statues, small artifacts, paintings, pictures or even novels. As a humble devotee to my Lord Sri Vinayagar, I had been searching for the right statue of him for veneration at home. I have been searching for probably 2 years. I had spoke about this to my Hindu friends and most of them are quite kind enough to say something nice like, 'Probably your time haven't come yet.', 'You will know it when the chance arrives.' So on and so forth. Initially from wanting the vibrant lifelike plaster to sandalwood/rosewood (Got to know it's controlled item in India and they are expensive!) and finally settling down on panchaloha. I was very fascinated by the beauty and exquisiteness of the artwork and I am making my goal in attaining Sri Vinayagar in panchaloha material for worship. I am considering the option of commissioning/getting it online from some of the websites (from India) but torn between whether should I fly to India or getting them to ship it over.

Ok, enough of my ranting. I would appreciate any brothers or sisters out there can recommend me any good artisans in Tamilnadu with address/contact no. I hope I can able to finally pay a visit to India at the end of the year (No choice, got to wait for yearend bonus).

Purana
01 May 2012, 11:17 PM
This caught my eyes and I can't seem to leave my eyes without it. :rolleyes:
http://southindianhandicrafts.co.in/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/SV_TEMPLE_USA_Lord_Ganesha_after_polish.197173514_std.jpg

McKitty
02 May 2012, 03:06 AM
Hello,

When I came to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, I made very good friend with fishers, a christian rikshaw driver, priests and a stone carver.
His name is Anil Kumar and he is located at Mahabalipuram, about two hours from Chennai.
He gave me his adress but I am currently at my parent's home and I don't have the adress right now. I'll be back at my home this sunday, from there I'll pass the adress to you ;)

I bought several carved statues at a good price, he carve them himself and I can assure you he is good at it. He makes many Lord Vishnu murtis, but also have Lord Ganesha, some Godesses, and beautiful decorative objects.

Here is an exemple of his work:
http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=4113661335945577394.jpg

If you go near Mahabalipuram, you can visit him, he is a very nice man ^^ The pharmacist nearby sell Amrutajan at very good price too and she was very talkative and happy too !

Ah, so many nice people at Mahabalipuram, I miss them :(
Wish you the best in your quest !

Aum~

Purana
02 May 2012, 03:32 AM
Thank you very much! :)

Eastern Mind
02 May 2012, 08:02 AM
Vannakkam Purana: Swamimalai is considered a place where metal artisans shine. Some are considered the best in all of India. If you go to Swamimala Murugan temple and ask around, someone will point you in the right direction.

When I was there last year, we toured the shop of one Kubera Sthapathi ... just a block or so east and North of the famous temple. We wanted to see very large pancha metal base for a Lingam he's made destined for a temple in America. When I was there, we noticed several rich looking people from out of town setting up commissioned works.

The display stuff they had was indeed exquisite.

Aum Namasivaya

Purana
02 May 2012, 06:56 PM
Thanks brother Eastern Mind for sharing. However I can't help but to notice that you mentioned 'rich people' going there for the panchaloha murtis. Can I assume that it is very expensive? Cos I don't have any rough idea on the price.

Eastern Mind
02 May 2012, 07:28 PM
Thanks brother Eastern Mind for sharing. However I can't help but to notice that you mentioned 'rich people' going there for the panchaloha murtis. Can I assume that it is very expensive? Cos I don't have any rough idea on the price.

Vannakkam: I'm not really sure. 'Rich' is a very relative word. American or Singapore dollars will go a very long way in India. Kubera Sthapathy won some sort of award for artisans from the government, but he himself was a very humble man. I also wouldn't know how to contact the shop at all. Its all still done very localized in old traditional ways. The shop and the art produced were, shall we say, quite the contrast.

The base I saw was 15 tons or so of metal.

Here's a link to a video on the process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoEW85KDZKQ&feature=related

and an even better documentary .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SuEzTXCk4c

Aum Namasivaya

Purana
02 May 2012, 08:24 PM
Ah... crystal clear. Thank you for explaining. :)

McKitty
07 May 2012, 08:07 AM
Hello !

As I promised, here is informations regarding the stone carver I talked about:

GVS stone carving gallery
No 108, PWD road, Anna Nagar
Mamallapuram - 603 104

Here is his e-mail:

anilkumar-fb@yahoo.co.in

Aum !

Purana
07 May 2012, 07:10 PM
Thank you for remembering. :)