Page 16 CentralBeat / IndianArrivalDay
Ravi Mahase redefines art with his beautiful murtees
By Beena Mahabal
Some people are trained for their profession, others are born with it.
On such person is thirty-nineyear old Ravishankar Mahase, or‘ Ravi’ as he is fondly referred by all. A resident of Chase Village in Freeport all his life and an artist by profession, Ravi’ s job entails making murtees or religious statues of Hindu deities. He sculpts the originals and even repairs and repaints existing ones.
The tagline for his business R & S Murtee world,“ Redefining Art, Resurrecting Culture” is something Ravi says he is determined to carry out as such skills require time, effort and patience.
Speaking with Central Beat, Ravi says he has been in the murtee making business for the past 16 years.
“ My father, Chaman Mahase, was involved in the murtee making business since he was sixteen years old, he learnt and inherited the trade from his father Bhagoutie Mahase. I entered the field in the year 2001, when I was twenty three years old … prior to this trade, I worked at United Engineering in Point Lisas as an electrician. I was urged and encouraged by my father to work and join the business so that I would always be self-sufficient.
“ When I started to work with my dad, I started at the bottom of the ladder, the basic ground work. I used to mix mortar and cut steel for fabrication of the murtees. I would honestly state though, that while I learnt methods and ways to create
Murtee artist Ravishankar Mahase of Freeport.
pieces, I believe that it is indeed a gift from the Lord above.”
Ravi says he was never formally trained as an artist despite encouragement to do so by his father.
“ As a testimony to that, my father used to encourage me to do a“ course” in airbrush painting, but
before that happened, one day on my own, I took the airbrush gun and stared painting a murtee that was already in the process of being completed. When my dad saw that the work was progressing, he further encouraged me to continue. No formal training or courses but like I said this is my gift from God.”
Ravi says that his inspiration comes from his father’ s work.
“ Growing up, I used to see him turn simple materials such as sand and cement into beautiful works of art. A lot of our work involves not only creating concrete murtees, but we also do repairs and refurbish marble stone murtees and statues, metal pieces and even plastic.”
He says though some pieces may look simple, it takes a lot of patience, materials and skills to make it happen.
A devout Hindu, Ravi says his job has afforded him the opportunity to work throughout the length and breadth of Trinidad repairing and refurbishing hundreds of murtees.
“ My job has taken me to places as far as Biche, Plum Mitan, Moruga and Penal to name a few. While I have done numerous jobs at private homes and temples, I have worked at some historical sites in the country as well such as the well-known Paschim Kashee St James Mandir, the ever popular Triveni Mandir and even the tourist hub in Central, the Temple by the Sea.
“ My father and I even made some of the murtees in the Triveni Mandir and the Temple by the Sea; also if you were to pass by St. Julien’ s village in Princes Town, you would notice the second largest Hanuman murtee in the Caribbean which stands at 18 feet tall … that too was made by my father and myself.”
Ravi was brought up in a strong cultural and religious home, his grandfather being the late Sugrim Gangabissoon- a man who authored several religious books including“ An Outline of The Ramayan” and“ It is Dawn, Awake” and he says this too played an important role in his decision to become a full time artist involved in both sculpting and painting.
“ Being in the business of making murtees, the murtees of course being religious in nature, I have a better understanding of what I do. I don’ t paint by guess, but by what I know. My late grandfather always spoke of the importance of not just working hard, but also working for the upliftment of Sanatan Dharma. You see, besides being an author, my grandfather taught Hindi and Religious Education to many students in Central Trinidad. I too was a student of his and from his religious classes, I learnt the details of each deity and what it represented. I held on to this knowledge and of course, I transfer it to my work and pieces.” Having inherited skills and knowledge from both his maternal and paternal sides, Ravi says he intends to pass on his knowledge in detail to both of his children, Raveena, 4 and Ravishankar Junior, 2.
“ Though they are both very young, they are already being taught religious and cultural traditions, we take them to the temple as often as we can. My father is a musician, he plays instruments such as the Baansuri and harmonium, I am also a musician but I play the dholak and tabla. So even though my son is only two and a half years old, he has already begun to play the dholak as well. I can tell that he, too, has a passion for our culture and who knows he may be the 4 th generation of artists.
“ The walls of my home is proof that both my children try to follow me, my toddler is always pretending that he is airbrushing a murtee, except with crayons,” the proud father adds.
Ravi says while many may believe that being an artist is not quite a“ real job”, it is only so when your culture and passion is hidden.
“ The sky is the limit when you are living your dream and when you follow your heart. Every task becomes almost effortless, my motto is Redefining Art, Resurrecting Culture and that is what I always intend to do.”
Lord Hanuman
A rangoli design by Ravi.
Goddess Lakshmi
May 2017