The winding road flanked by vast fields and coconut trees,dotted with cows grazing by the side of the road, leads further into the heartof Raia. The makers of religious wooden statues of Jesus, Mary and the Catholicsaints reside at the end of one of the by-lanes. When some residents werequeried about their whereabouts, pat came the reply, “Devagher?” (meaning,god’s house?) and they wasted no time in passing on directions.
This is how Peter Antonio Fernandes and his family are knownin the village. Peter, now 76, has been making wooden statues since he was 19.And though he now makes fewer statues, his sons Prakash and Lazarus arecontinuing the profession. The wide variety of statues “ the resurrectedChrist, a reclining Christ with a casket for Good Friday, Our Lady underdifferent names and those of various saints “ have found their way to chapels and churches notonly all over the state “ Mardol, Loutolim, Calangute, Shiroda, Old Goa “ butalso out of Goa and the country as well.
“We made a statue of St Xavier for a UK-based man fromMapusa. It is placed in the Church of St James in London. The man took effortsto take this heavy statue of 104 kg and paid Rs 35,000 to transport it bycargo,” says a humble Prakash, who has been carving since he was 12 and it isevident that the demand and popularity of the statues has not eroded at thefamily’s modesty. Many wooden crib sets whose statues can be dismantled foundtheir way to Portugal, he informs.
Their latest creation “ the statue of Our Lady of Piety “has been installed in the church of Our Lady of Piety in Malkarnem. Besidesmaking statues, Prakash also undertakes repairing of old statues and carvingimages of religious figures “ of the Hindus and Catholics “ on the entrancedoors to houses. His talent played an integral part in restoring the mainstatue of Our Lady of Snows of his parish, whose insides were completely eatenaway by white ants. “We restored her, packed her with sawdust and glue, and shewill last for another 80 years or so,” says Prakash, as he adds the finishingtouches on a statue of Our Lady of Good Delivery, which has to be deliveredsoon. His wife Linda helps polish the statues after they are carved and “openstheir eyes” as he puts it. His sister Eva paints the statues.
Their home is truly Devagher where wooden gods are born.
