Inspired by the success of Chandrayaan-3 local artisans made beautiful wooden lacquerware models of the same. They want to present the pieces of these models to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also the MP this parliamentary constituency, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and ISRO Chairman Somanath. Wooden lacquerware is one of the Geographical Identified (GI) certified products which is also included in ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) list.
“There is a lot of demand for this Chandrayaan-3 model from different parts of the country,” said Shilpi Shubhi Agrawal, who is at present busy in fulfilling its demand and expressing her willingness to present its models to the PM, CM and ISRO chief. “After the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the lunar surface, the wood art of Kashi has also got a boost. With the success of Chandrayaan-3, the world has started acknowledging the achievements of Indian scientists. At the same time, the success of Chandrayaan-3 has opened up a new business market for Indian artisans,” she said, adding that these models have been made in honour of ISRO scientists.
“If we fail to meet the PM, CM and ISRO Chairman, then the models of Chandrayaan-3 will be sent to them through other mediums,” she said, praising the Yogi government for his bid for promoting the traditional wood art on the world stage. Eminent craftsman and businessman of wood toy articles Bihari Lal Agrawal said inspired by the success of Vikram Lander in the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, the local artisans associated with the ancient art of the wooden toy industry have carved it very beautifully on wood.
“Natural colours have been used in this. In our factory of Lolark Kund, it has been given concrete shape after working day and night. Now the demand for Chandrayaan-3 model is coming from the markets of South India, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai etc,” he said, adding that talks are on to export the same models to some Singapore businessmen as well. He said that this virtually dying traditional industry has been revived again when the PM and CM made sincere efforts to promote the art at an international level. “Due to the training programme and financial assistance, a big market for the wooden toy industry has been created by the state government and due to this, the artisans, who were moving away from this artwork, have started joining the same again,” Agrawal said.