Graphic tales
After a lapse of three years, pandal makers are finally getting an opportunity this Vesak to showcase their creations once more. The past three years have taken a heavy toll on these artistes, with first the Easter Sunday attacks and then the Covid-19 pandemic preventing them from exhibiting their creations. Many have struggled under mountains of debt.
Yet all is not rosy this year either. While some pandals are now starting to come up, the prevailing economic crisis has also hit pandal makers.
Most items needed to make their pandals are now far more expensive. Meanwhile, the crippling fuel shortage has also made transportation extremely difficult. Some who used to commission pandal makers to build pandals are no longer doing so due to the economic crunch.
Times continue to be uncertain, but those pandal makers lucky enough to find work will no doubt be glad to finally be able to exhibit their work to the public come Vesak. It’s been a long three years.