Clay Idols - Uttar Pradesh
Several myths of India and tradition describe earth as the body of god or goddess formed of soil. Soil or Mitti is the earth upon which man has born and he lives. It is also used to make the walls, roofs, vessels for carrying, cooking, eating, storing and worshipping. The food that sustains human being’s and fibers of the fabric that he clothes himself is nurtured in mitti (soil). Mother goddess honored all over India is very much associated with ground and clay as it is she who bears the earth and all creation. Therefore in formerly man started to make the Gods with the clay available to the forms he imagined as a supreme power with his own hands. After performing rituals dissolved back to earth through water. This is transferred over generations and now they’re very few families who still continue their ancestral tradition of making the Idols with clay.
Firozabad is one of the city of Uttar Pradesh in India known as the City of Bangles, is one of the city that follows the making of Idols with clay. Ancient name of the town was Chandwar nagar which at one stage was actually brought to the city in Akbar’s reign. Clay is a fine grained, stiff, sticky substance that is molded when wet, dried and baked to make pottery and various products. Clay is a symbol of change over through cycles of change from generations and accessible everywhere with its tenderness that ensures its unvarying renewal. Clay items can be easily created, broken and also replaced into its useful forms. The skilled artisans have their own uniqueness for their creativity and skills.
