Durga Puja and Nav Ratra festivals drawing nearer, the city is now buzzing with myriad activities. While the idols for Durga Puja are being made by the idol-makers who have come from celebrated Kumartuli in Kolkata artisans from Haryana are now giving the final touches to the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad which would be torched on the Dussehra evening.
A group of artisans from the Kumartuli in Kolkata come to the city at least four months prior to the Durga Puja every year. Bankim Pal is one who leads them to Dehardun, tasked with making the Durga Puja idols for many organisers.
“I have been visiting Dehradun for almost 30 years now. Many like loha Ram Pal, Buddhidev Pal, Bolai Pal and Dalin Pal come to the city four months before the Durga Puja. We bring the ingredients required for making the idols like the bamboo sticks and the decorative items from Kolkata which cost us around `25,000 to `30,000. Aside from making idols of Goddess Durga and other gods and goddesses- parts of Durga Puja constellation- we make idols of lord Ganesha and lord Vishwakarma,” said Bankim Pal.
He further said the demand for the idols of lord Ganesha had substantially gone up as compared to previous years. “While last year we made around 15 to 20 idols of the lord this year it is 40,” he said.
Another who is engaged in idol-making said that the process of making the idols takes around a week. “Things are nearly completed now, save for the final touches,” he said.
Pal further said they had made idols for Bengali library, lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Panchayati Mandir Karanpur and Durga Badi, Cantt Road. “We are also getting orders though a few days are left,” he said, adding that apart from Dehradun, members of the group from Kolkata are engaged in idol-making at Vikasnagar, Rishikesh, UttarkashI and Haridwar.
“Till now the biggest idol we have made is of 10 feet in Premnagar. This time, the pressure is much more than the previous years. We refused many orders. It is not possible to take all the orders that come our ways as making idols is a Herculean task,” he said.
Asked whether the trade they are engaged in is good in terms of money earned, he said things are not so. “Nevertheless, we are happy,” he said.