Mysuru: Meditating Buddha… Shiva carved in Chalukya style, the attractive Shila Balika and other designs are unfolding in wood. Surprisingly, even the GST (Goods and Services Tax) theme is being unravelled.

The carvers are immersed in carving the wooden figures in the Kalamandira premises and it is reaching the finishing stage and very soon will attract the eyes of art connoisseurs.

It is always a joy to see a piece of wood or a slab of stone being beaten to shape and the magic unfolding right in front of you. The woodcarving workshop organised by the Dasara Fine Arts and Handicrafts Sub-Committee as part of the Dasara celebrations, is creating an artistic world.

The adoption of the Chalukya sculpture style is the speciality of the workshop. If the Chalukya style is seen in stone, the same style is adopted for woodcarving. The carving of the standing Buddha idol by Dharmasthala’s Shashidhar Achar is one such example of Chalulkya style.

Belthangadi sculptor N. Jayachandra is carving the idol of Shiva in Chalukya style displaying his carving skills. The stylised graceful posture of a young female, Shilabalika in the Belur temple, which never fails to impress, is taking shape in the hands of Mahesh of Siddapura in Sirsi.

Ten artistes in the wood sculptor camp are carving out their own creations. The wood they are using is ‘Shivani,’ a lightwood fit for carving.

This light and white wood is a poor alternative to the world famous sandalwood that it resembles. Sadly, the sandalwood carvers are dwindling simply because of poor availability of sandalwood. Another reason is the prohibitively high price of sandalwood.

Dasara Wood-Carving workshop Director Vipin Boudharia from Sagar said that the theme for the workshop is Chalukya style carving. This style is suitable for sculpting in stone. Hence, it is a great challenge to adopt this difficult style in wood,  he added.

The family planning theme ‘Small family,’ with a father-mother and a small baby is also coming up and Gulbarga’s Mahesh Kumar is carving this message. There is also a carving on protection of nature and its diversity, which depicts the deep meaning emerging from the artist’s mind.

28% GST on handicraft  will kill industry

“The GST (Goods and Services Tax) that is introduced in the country is not suitable at present and this is the message that I want to convey through my carving. The GST imposed on handicrafts is a whopping 28 percent, which will definitely sound the death knell of handicraft industry. When compared to other countries this tax is exorbitant. Even before one can understand what GST is, such a huge tax has been imposed. All these problems are being reflected in my carving, which is unravelling in the form of a brain.” —Basavaraj Achar, Gadag