By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Varanasi : The faded parasols dotting the banks of the Ganga in this Hindu holy city for years, under whose ample shade priests received their clients or tourists sat for a bit of idle chatter, may soon become a thing of the past.
The bamboo parasols, or chhatris, once a ubiquitous feature at the ghats, are now literally fighting for their survival. There are only 130-150 parasols left at the over 250 ghats in this city, according to a study conducted by the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).
What is more worrying is that now in the entire city there is only one family of artisans that knows the traditional art of making parasols. “The parasols that have given a unique identity to Varanasi and its ghats are disappearing fast. They are literally on the verge of extinction now,” Kalyan Krishna, professor at BHU’s history of arts department, told IANS.
“If adequate measures are not taken for their revival, the parasols will soon become a thing of the past in the next five to seven years,” he added.
He attributes the disappearance of parasols primarily to the declining strength of benefactors.
“Earlier, driven by the belief that donations would help them attain punya (religious merit), a large number of people donated money to the priests, who in turn used to spend a major portion of it on maintenance of the parasols and ghats,” said Krishna, who is also convener and executive trustee of the Varanasi chapter of the Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
“With the passage of time, people gradually stopped giving donations to the priests and that eventually had a negative impact on the parasols. Today you will hardly come across a parasol that doesn’t need any maintenance,” he added.
According to the research team, a standard chhatri would cost around Rs.2,000 today. But finding someone to make it would be a difficult task.
Hit by the falling demand, the craftsmen involved in making chhatris moved to other work.
“Today most of the craftsmen who were once associated with parasol-making have taken up the work of denting and painting of cars and other vehicles,” Krishna said.
In a bid to protect the centuries-old tradition from dying out, Krishna, along with his research team, has initiated a campaign ‘Save the vanishing symbol of the identity of Kashi’ to raise funds for repair of the existing chhatris.
“We have formed several teams that have been entrusted with the task of collecting money for the maintenance of chhatris. Some foreigners have also become a part of our campaign,” R. Kumar, one of the team members, told IANS.
“The response of the public is satisfactory. Initially, we have aimed to generate funds for maintenance and setting up of around 30 chhatris,” he said.
(Asit Srivastava can be contacted at [email protected])