A quarry in Mathur village in Kancheepuram district. The black granite sourced from Kancheepuram is good for sculpting.
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B. VELANKANNI RAJ
Sculpting has thrived in Mamallapuram through the years, attracting purchasers from throughout the globe. The sculptors, who’ve established studios and workshops within the historical city, have been utilizing the wealthy useful resource (black granite) from the neighbouring Kancheepuram district. Nonetheless, a few of them have began procuring the uncooked materials from the bordering districts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. This shift is attributed to high quality considerations and limits imposed on stone quarrying in Kancheepuram. One of many causes for the curbs, the sculptors say, is the depletion of the useful resource brought on by over-consumption and years of extraction. When the stones at a quarry get used up, it ends in the formation of deep pits from which extraction turns into tough. Furthermore, this results in a rise within the worth of stones because the manpower and equipment required go up.
‘This stone is unique’
“My first visit to Mamallapuram was in 2009. I remember the sculptors extensively procuring materials from the quarries of Kancheepuram,” remembers Stefano Beccari, an 80-year-old sculptor from Sweden and director of World Stone Workshop. “The practice has continued for years, resulting in what seems to be resource depletion. This [black granite] we get here is unique and ideal for sculpting of all kinds,” he says.
In accordance with the District Survey Report, 2019, the provision of black granite in Kancheepuram was put at 3,75,000 metric tonnes. Its high quality was decided to be poor. Murugan, one other sculptor in Mamallapuram, says he has of late been procuring stones from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for main initiatives.
Quarries are deserted after they’re labored up. Then they flip into lakes, from the place water is equipped to city areas, a apply that’s gaining reputation in Chennai. Sustainable redevelopment of quarries can also be taken up: the depleted quarries are became public areas.
The closest quarry is 70 km away. This has at all times inconvenienced the sculptors as transport price is excessive. In consequence, a few of them have been demanding a stone quarry at Mamallapuram. Nonetheless, the demand bumped into opposition from some sculptors. “A quarry would destroy the tranquillity of the town and may even bring down the number of tourists. People visit this place for its culture and serenity,” says T. Baskaran, a sculptor and proprietor of Artistic Studios. “As businesses surge, so does the demand for raw materials. Sculptors from across the globe prefer the black granite offered here because of its durability and colour,” he provides.
In accordance with one other District Survey Report, the availability of tough stones (used for sculpting and public sector initiatives) from Kancheepuram went down from 3,601,450 cubic metres in 2016-17 to three,270,657 cubic metres in 2018-19, even because the demand stayed constant.
World demand
Mamallapuram’s tryst with stones has not solely attracted purchasers and companies but additionally sculptors and researchers from throughout the globe. As an illustration, Mr. Stefano hosts famend sculptors from Europe in workshops carried out in October and March yearly at Mamallapuram. In European traditions, marble is probably the most most popular stone for sculpting, adopted by granite. The sculptors say high quality is the final facet they wish to compromise on because the sculptures are exported globally. They’re usually commissioned for big-ticket initiatives throughout the nation, too, together with temple idols for which they need to take note of the main points. This is the reason they’ve been counting on the granite stones from Kancheepuram, regardless of the large transport price incurred.
Among the many worldwide sculpting initiatives taken up within the city is an Irish leisure park that has stood out due to its outlandish nature: 12 sculptures, every 10 or 12 foot tall and weighing about 10 tonnes, had been made in Mamallapuram and shipped to Eire over 16 years to ascertain Victor’s Approach. “Black granite stones were transported from Kancheepuram to make the sculptures. These stones take on a greyish tone once sculpted,” says Mr. Baskaran, who led 20 native sculptors to drag off this challenge.
“In sculpting, it is the details that count, and the black granite we get here [Kancheepuram], though relatively softer, is resilient to the cold climates of Europe. It is cheaper, too, than the materials we get in Europe,” says Yemisi Wilson, a Swedish-Nigerian sculptor who was in Mamallapuram for a workshop.
Because the takers’ rely grew exponentially through the years, the speed of depletion, too, went up. “Earlier, the raw materials were procured from within the town [Mamallapuram]. However, restrictions were imposed on stone extraction after the resources became protected. And that’s how the sculptors started getting the stones from Kancheepuram,” says P. Rajendran, a sculptor and former Principal of the Authorities Faculty of Structure and Sculpture, Mamallapuram.
Hub of sculpting
He says a number of components contributed to Mamallapuram turning into a hub of sculpting. Within the earlier days, the stones had been extracted within the city itself. “However, following the restrictions, the sculptors had to look elsewhere,” he says. He highlights the proximity of Mamallapuram to the ocean and the resource-rich Kancheepuram as the foremost causes for sculptors and purchasers to troop into the city for the reason that Pallava interval. “The sculptors have pulled off several international projects. The stones were transported from the quarries in Kancheepuram, and the finished sculptures were shipped from the Chennai or Mamallapuram coast,” he says.
