Now pray to Lalbaugcha Raja at home

Mumbaikars, it seems, want more of Lalbaugcha Raja.
Idol-maker Santosh Kambli has been flooded with requests from people for a miniature Lalbaugcha Raja, which they can take home. And they are willing to pay a huge premium for this design for which Kambli has applied for a copyright.

“The demand is so huge that I have had to refuse hundreds of requests from those who’ve come barely a month before the festival,” says Kambli, a third generation sculptor from a family that has traditionally sculpted the Lalbaugcha Raja.

“There is a waiting list of those who want the miniature. I took limited orders from those who came six months before the festival.”

An overjoyed Swapna Shinde, one of the 115 lucky devotees, who is shelling out more than Rs9,000 for the two-feet-tall miniature, says, “Me and my family are ardent devotees and seek darshan several times, braving long queues and rain. But now we will have the lord in our house.”

Despite the detailed work, isn’t this a steep price considering other similarly sized idols in plaster-of-Paris are available for less than half this price? “No price is too big for the lord. He will more than make up for what we spend with his blessings on us,” she adds.

While the first such miniatures were made in 2007 for some acquaintances of the Kamblis, word soon spread and demands began to flow in from as far as Pune and Nagpur. The clientele list includes some top corporate czars and politicos, admits the sculptor refusing to give names. “From the rich to the poor, all flock to the Raja seeking help,” he says.

Kambli has applied for a copyright to his idols to the Controller General of Patents Designs & Trade Marks. “We have noticed that some sculptors are trying to copy our work since 2009. From the crown to the look in the idol’s eyes, we take a lot of pain to ensure detail. We want to ensure this style of idol-making, my family legacy, is copied by no one,” he explains.