TTD chairman to request YS Jagan for declaring Kalamkari art as State Art

TIRUPATI: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman Bhumana Karunakara Reddy is soon going to request Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to declare the traditional Kalamkari art as Staite Art.

The TTD chairman inaugurated a three-day workshop organised on the theme of Traditional Temple Art by the SV Traditional Sculpture Training Institute (SVITSA) in Tirupati on Monday. Karunakara Reddy said that the TTD board would soon upgrade the two-year certificate course on Kalamkari into a four-year diploma course.

The TTD chairman said that Kalamkari art was born about 30,000 years ago as a temple and bhajan hall architecture and that the TTD had revived this art into a teaching course 17 years ago. TTD would soon launch a campaign to produce hanf-foot or one-foot idols of Sri Venkateswara to suit the devotional needs of every household in the country. The workshop should inspire students of the sculpture institute to harness their skills and make them role model exponents of architecture and sculpture, he said.

JEO for Health and Education Sada Bhargavi said that the fine arts were patronised during Karunakar Reddy’s past regime with a new building and had also announced Rs 1 lakh financial assistance to all students who completed the courses. The TTD chairman had hiked prices of sculptures produced by students at the workshop. Since its inception, so far, as many as 815 students of the institute had turned into sculptors and architects.

Later, Karunakara Reddy also inaugurated an exhibition of sculptures which included temple art, statues, Sudha( cement figurines, Koyya (wood)folk statues, Panchaloha(metal) idols,traditional architecture etc. Among others, the artifacts made from waste goods by Kumari P Sai Devika, glass works, pottery, household articles made from jute were also put on display at stalls.