Berhampur, Jan. 18: The art of crafting flexible brass fish, an art form unique to Belaguntha in Ganjam, is on the verge of extinction, and the artisans are seeking the state government's support and attention to revival it.
"The artisans are traditionally called kansari. Though there are about 15 families of artisans at Belaguntha, about 87km from Berhampur, only four families are still struggling to keep the craft alive," said Pradip Kumar Maharana, 47, who belongs to one such family. Maharana has an ITI diploma in electronics and is passionate about preserving this traditional art form.
Most of the artisans of flexible brass fish have now switched to making brass statues of gods and goddesses for temples.
Some have switched over to other professions to support their livelihood. "Our great-grandfathers made flexible fish, turtles and frogs with brass and presented them to the erstwhile king of the Bhanja dynasty about 250 years ago. They also used to make brass canons for the king, and those were used during wars," he said.
Maharana is now a part-time lecturer at a local ITI and regularly visits ITI centres in Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and some other states to train students in crafting flexible brass fish. Recently, about 20 students from Shantiniketan in Bengal, Ahmedabad University and the National Institute of Designs had visited Belaguntha and stayed there for three days to learn how to craft flexible brass fish.
The state government had also taken a step towards training the younger generation in crafting the traditional item through NGOs a few months ago. But, it was a half-hearted attempt as the government stopped financial assistance to the NGOs and they lost interest, said Maharana.
The marketing system of the flexible brass fish should be more systematic and streamlined to improve the art, he said.
Pradip's family members Prakash Maharana, Sanyashi Maharana and Maheswar Maharana said they had been honoured many times by the government and private agencies. "Many of them have promised financial help and patronisation. But nothing concrete has happened," he said. District collector Prem Chand Chowdhury was not available for comment.
