No temples, no festivities, no exhibitions and no tourists have left spirits damp in the small town of Tamil Nadu’s Mamallapuram. After over 50 days of the national lockdown, sculptors have slowly resumed work.
With less than half the workforce in place, owners and their craftsmen sit and carve rocks. None of them have received orders or sold a piece in the last two months.
Vijay’s family owns the Sri Raja Stone Carving Centre for 45 years. They have stone sculptures ranging from Rs 35,000 to 1,50,000. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, their workshop was shut. Now, they have resumed operations with less than half of the work force. There are no tourists around and they haven’t sold a single piece in the last two months.
“Our main customers are temples. They have no funding. Many have placed orders but have not come to collect it. It’s been two months and there is no response or payment,” said M Vijay.
Loganathan is also in the manufacturing business of stone sculptures. He usually gets around Rs 30,000 at least a month. But 2020 has been a bleak year for him up until now. He has resumed business with a few craftsmen of his and they sit and toil away not knowing when their next sale will be.
During the lockdown, many of his employees took a loan from him and now they all work to pay it back. Loganathan said he cannot afford to pay them and told them they will get their full salaries once the sales resume.
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