Idle for months, hope springs eternal for him this Basant Panchami

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 27

Basant Panchami is just round the corner and it has brought smiles on the faces of idol makers. After grappling with low demand and almost negligible business this year due to the pandemic, idol makers are hoping to make some profit during Basant Panchami.

Manoj Kumar (55), a native or West Bengal, who lives near DAV College here, said: “While we almost lost our business this year, we are hopeful to get orders next month.”

During Basant Panchami, the festival of kites, Hindus worship Maa Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, knowledge, music, art and culture. Hence, Manoj and other artisans are making Saraswati idols these days. “Idols of different shapes and sizes are sold between Rs3,000 and Rs6,000. Demands usually come from residential colonies and temples,” adds Manoj. An idol takes 15-20 days to get complete.

Owing to the lack of orders during Dasehra and Durga Puja, artisans have not stocked any idols this time and are taking up orders only for customers who are demanding it. In addition, lack of clarity on the expected demand is adding to the woes of idol makers, as they aren’t sure if they should go ahead and stock up or just make idols as per the demand.

Manoj has been in the business for decades now. He said: “Our families are making huge idols of goddess Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali for generations now. I never took any special training in making these idols. I just learnt the art by watching my parents and other family members carve out the idols. With a little amount of dry grass, used to give posture to the idol, we mostly use sand and water. I am selling idols in the city for quite some time now and the special sand used to make these is brought from Beas. It has a perfect texture and colour for shaping the idols.”

While his family, including five children and wife, lives back in his village in West Bengal, he comes here during the season to earn a few bucks. Durga Puja, Dasehra and Basant Panchami are the only three occasions in the year, when he earns money. 

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