‘Divine art’ in high demand ahead of Ram temple opening

Master craftsman from Varanasi, Rameshwar Singh, a National awardee, is giving final touches to wooden models of Ayodhya’s Ram temple at his workplace in Khojwa area here. His son, Rajkumar, also a craftsman, and several craftswomen are also engaged in the task as the demand for this ‘divine piece of art’ has increased manifold in Ayodhya.

Rameshwar said the demand for these replicas started growing after October 2020, when he received the first order for making over 500 wooden models of the temple from traders of Ayodhya.

“In the last 37 months, around 75,000 wooden replicas of the Ram temple have been sent to the temple town,” he said. He said another consignment will be sent on January 14. Singh, known for making beautiful wooden toys, including Japanese dolls and carts, has deployed over two dozen craftsmen for making the wooden models of the temple to meet the demand.

The wooden models come in four price categories – the smaller one at ₹500, medium ₹1,000, the slightly bigger ones at ₹1,500 and the biggest models cost ₹2,700.

From carving, assembling to making the wooden model ready, it takes around three days, he said.

As January 22, the date of Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla’s idol in Ayodhya, is drawing closer, the demand for the wooden replicas is on the rise among people visiting Ayodhya.

And it will increase manifold after the inauguration of the temple, said Singh.

The craftsman said the rising demand has also generated employment for women engaged in polishing and giving finishing touches to the models. Craftswomen Meena and Monika (go by their first name) said, “Nowadays, we are making wooden models of the Ram temple. We are getting work daily.” They said the women, on an average, earn ₹200 daily.

Rajnikant, a GI expert from Kashi, said the wooden models and toys are GI products.

“Earlier, Kashi’s craftsmen made wooden models of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham. Models of Ram temple are already high in demand,” he said.

“At present, the annual business of wooden toys is pegged at around ₹15-18 crore, which is likely to see a 30% growth,” added the GI expert.