KOLKATA, INDIA, September 5, 2011 (Times of India): Its festival time in India and not only street-side stalls but also gift shops have begun stocking up on statues of various sizes, all of them made in factories in the People’s Republic of China.
The trend started a couple of years ago with small statuettes of the Buddha and Ganesh that were meant to be mounted on the dashboard of vehicles. As these items started disappearing from the market, the Chinese realized the potential and extended the range to larger statues meant for the puja rooms.
According to a port official, container loads of such statues are landing in Kolkata for distribution in several states in this region.”There was good response before Janmashtami. People were attracted by the various styles,” he said.
The Chinese have certainly done their homework well. Even statues on Baba Loknath, Shirdi Sai Baba and Ramakrishna Paramahansa have gone into production and sale. One company claims that all the products are hand-made and states: “All of our Hindu God statues are made of polyresin (a mixture of plastic and resin). We have more than 500 styles of Hindu God statues”. We have Krishna, Ganesh, Hanuman, Shiva, Laxmi, Durga, Meera, Balaji, Saraswati, Kali, Vishnu, Shiva Parvati, Shiva Family, Satya Narayana, Sai Baba, Kuberan, Ganga, Gayatri, Nandi, Lingam with Shiva, Lota, Nataraj, Ohm and Diya (for Divali).” The company accepts a minimum order of 500 pieces.
According to an importer, it makes sense to buy from the Chinese. In certain provinces of that country, these statues are made by nearly every household. “Its cheaper and we can also sell for much less. The question of affecting business in India doesn’t occur as such products are not made here,” he said.