The art of preparing metal domes, Nishan Sahibs and other items for various religious places is waning as the government has not taken any step to promote the exclusive art. The young generation is not ready to adopt the art of their forefathers due to the less income generated through this profession and are in search of other vocations to make a fast buck.
Only six to seven artisans in Gali Fakir Khana, situated at the back of Mai Sewa Bazaar, could be seen carving out various items on copper, silver and gold. The railing at Mata Vaishno Devi, Lion of Goddess Vaishno, Nishan Sahibs, and special open boxes for placing them around sacred flames at various historical temples, including Chintpurani, Naina Devi and Jwala Ji in Himachal Pradesh, are the products of their work. They also have got specialisation in making huge sliver and copper doors with different designs and they make these with their hands without using any machinery.
Dharampal (75), one of the oldest artisans, claimed that his shop, which was established by his ancestor Bawa Dayal Chand, was as old as the Golden Temple as they prepared railings for the shrine besides designing the copper gates and domes. He said he had learnt the art from his grandfather Charcha Mal and the seventh generation of the family was associated with this profession. He rued that his grandsons did not want to adopt this profession as it involved hard work and a lot of concentration and were in search of other professions to make quick money. His son Parveen, who helps his father in making various artifacts, said this was not just a business for him and considered it a family heritage. Detailing about the process involved, he said they first arranged a large sheet of copper and then cut it according to the size of the item and after making a rough shape of the model gave final shape to the product.
Parveen said after Delhi and Agra, Amritsar was the only city where this profession existed. He said till then they had made hoda (seat on elephant), chairs, and models of Jain temple besides making the special seat for a serial titled “Maharaja Ranjit Singh”, produced by Raj Babbar.
He said there was great demand for the products in London and Germany and they have been exporting these for the past 12 years. He said presently he was busy in preparing the idol of Mata Lal Devi and other decorative items for the Vaishno Devi temple in Rani Ka Bagh.
He said all families who had been associated with this profession were considering to adopt modern techniques to create interest in the younger generation. But this could be achieved only if the government supported them financially to purchase the latest machinery and other tools. He said this would also save their precious time on producing an item which generally took many days.
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