Despite fund crunch, sculptors breathe life into idols

Anshita Mehra

New Delhi, October 11

Ahead of Durga puja revelry, unsung artisans who form the very soul of festivities, are busy breathing life into Goddess Durga idols from the seclusion of their makeshift studios.

Hailing from Kolkata, where they reside for most part of the year, these crafts people relocate to Delhi from July until Diwali — often spending 18 hours a day for months on end — to create idols of Hindu deities Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali to align with the puja. Most of them lead tough lives but never let travails blot their art.

Tapan Pradhan, a sculptor from Haldia, West Bengal, has spent 36 years crafting idols in Delhi. “Despite the considerable cost of creating these idols, financial returns remains insufficient. A 12-ft idol, typically valued at Rs 1 lakh, will sell for only around Rs 80,000 only. We are normally a team of 10. After dividing the payment among all the artisans, each is left with less than Rs 30,000 if we sell 30 idols. This is insufficient to sustain a family of nine,” Pradhan tells The Tribune.

Post Covid pandemic, these artistes fell deeper into financial mess. Some shifted to farm labour to make ends meet. Even today, many of them have to live on borrowed clothes.

Speaking of the challenges post Covid, Gautum Chitrakar, another sculptor from Kolkata, says, “In the past, people preferred larger idols of 12 ft. We would create about 25-30 big idols, with the remaining 50-60 idols being smaller at about 7 ft. However, the demand for larger idols has dwindled in recent years, with 12 orders this year and only six in the last two. This has added to financial woes.”

To bring their creative vision to life, these artisans annually transport materials required for sculpting from Kolkata, including the clay that is used to mould the sacred figures.

To maintain eco-friendliness, the sculptors exclusively employ natural materials like mud and hay in their art. The paint used is either eco-friendly or water-based.

Uttam Kumar Gol, a sculptor from Kolkata, notes, “We have consistently used natural materials like clay and hay to shape our idols. Furthermore, the eco-friendly paint we use has shifted from being a time-consuming in-house endeavour to a readily available option in stores.”