Ranchi, April 16: Their skilled hands were giving shape to irregular white, black and brown Markana marbles brought from Jaipur to carve out statues of gods, goddesses and famous personalities.

Using a variety of tools to design the statues in three different workshops at Murti on Ratu Road, they beat the hot and sultry afternoon with sheer enthusiasm.

The dexterity in designing the statues from 1ft to 6ft lies in the hands of artisans who have come from Gaya to earn their livelihood. “We prepared around 80ft statue of Lord Buddha at a Bodh Gaya temple. Then we decided to come here. Our families are staying in Gaya where we go once or twice a month,” said one of the artisans, Indar Dev Kumar.

On average, Indar takes four to five days to design a statue and earns Rs 150 to Rs 300 per item.

Jaipur Marble Museum has also been opened on Kutchery Road to cater to customers with marble items designed by the artisans in the workshop.

In the showroom, marble statues are stacked in different racks for sale costing from Rs 100 to Rs 70,000 depending on size like jewellery box, statues of goddess Saraswati, Lord Hanuman, goddess Kali, Shivling, decorative items, temples among others.