Sandstone carvers spend days and months removing the unwanted part of sandstone slowly chipping it away with a chisel and a hammer. The size of chisel varies as per the job requirements, starting from big one which are of a fest size to the once that gets smaller and smaller like a ball pen tip. These tools are their life line and blows they make on stone with these tools earn them their bread and butter.

This the not the final product but somewhere close to it, the stone carver said ‘they need to work more on the edges so that the reflection is soft.’ The entire process is time taking and very laborious. Right from the beginning from getting the stone to preparing a blocks to creating intricate patterns. It takes months and years to get the job done. And a carver has to sit for long long hours removing unwanted parts in bits n pieces.

As the stone carvers  sits for long hours their calf muscles go numb, which makes their legs go dizzy and shaky because of this they can’t sit, stand or walk. The only respite from this pain is to make the fellow carver stand on it. The load helps the numb area get some blood and calf muscles gets rejuvenated with the fresh supply and in few minutes the carvers move back to their respective work.

After watching these guys at work I was thinking of all those carvers who might have worked in the making of Red Fort (New Delhi),  Qutab Minar (new Delhi)  forts of Jaipur, Agra and Fatehpur Sikiri. I can just imagine the pain and effort involved in the entire process.