JHARSUGUDA: For 66-year-old Purna Chandra Pradhan, farming is profession, but creating wood carvings is his passion. When he fashions figures out of wood with his dexterous hands, he remains so engrossed that time just flies away.
Though the indomitable spirit of this farmer of Jamgaon village under Lakhanpur block in Jharsiguda refuses to fade away, promotion and patronage are still a far cry.
He has been doing it from his childhood but livelihood concerns make him stick to farming. He terms his craft-making as a hobby.
Purna has been carving out beautiful creations from wood like sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi, Goddess Maa Ramchandi, parrot, tiger and many other things.
He has five children, including two sons and three daughters. All the daughters are married off and both the sons are helping him in farming. Sometimes burden of sustaining his family bogs him down, but he refuses to give up. Purna said, "I took interest in this art since my childhood. One day everyone has to go away from this world but my art would remind everyone that there was an artist living here once upon a time."
"If the government extends support to me then I can train interested youths, who can learn and take this art forward and keep it alive. No one else makes this type of wooden carvings in nearby areas according to my knowledge. I make the carvings with teak wood,." he added. "If I am disturbed for some reason, I usually take out my tools and start carving out some sculptures. It reduces my tension."
Carving out an idol in two to three days gives him joy, but he rues that there is shortage of wood for creating toys. As such teak wood is very costly, he said.
He added Karnataka's Channapatna is famous for its wooden toys because it is being promoted by the Karnataka government. Similarly if this art is promoted by Odisha government then it acn generate lots of jobs for the villagers and their economic condition will look up, said Purna.
A villager, Padmalochan Pradhan, of the village, said, "I have been seeing him creating beautiful wooden carving for years, but his art is limited to our village. If the government extends a helping hand he can impart training to youths who can put our village on the art map of the country apart from earning their livilihood."
Though the indomitable spirit of this farmer of Jamgaon village under Lakhanpur block in Jharsiguda refuses to fade away, promotion and patronage are still a far cry.
He has been doing it from his childhood but livelihood concerns make him stick to farming. He terms his craft-making as a hobby.
Purna has been carving out beautiful creations from wood like sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi, Goddess Maa Ramchandi, parrot, tiger and many other things.
He has five children, including two sons and three daughters. All the daughters are married off and both the sons are helping him in farming. Sometimes burden of sustaining his family bogs him down, but he refuses to give up. Purna said, "I took interest in this art since my childhood. One day everyone has to go away from this world but my art would remind everyone that there was an artist living here once upon a time."
"If the government extends support to me then I can train interested youths, who can learn and take this art forward and keep it alive. No one else makes this type of wooden carvings in nearby areas according to my knowledge. I make the carvings with teak wood,." he added. "If I am disturbed for some reason, I usually take out my tools and start carving out some sculptures. It reduces my tension."
Carving out an idol in two to three days gives him joy, but he rues that there is shortage of wood for creating toys. As such teak wood is very costly, he said.
He added Karnataka's Channapatna is famous for its wooden toys because it is being promoted by the Karnataka government. Similarly if this art is promoted by Odisha government then it acn generate lots of jobs for the villagers and their economic condition will look up, said Purna.
A villager, Padmalochan Pradhan, of the village, said, "I have been seeing him creating beautiful wooden carving for years, but his art is limited to our village. If the government extends a helping hand he can impart training to youths who can put our village on the art map of the country apart from earning their livilihood."
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