Durga Puja with family is a distant dream for sculptors 

Durga Puja with family is a distant dream for sculptors 

Pune: With Mahalaya on Saturday, the countdown for Durga Puja has begun. The Navratri festival, a 9-day gala affair, will be celebrated from Sunday across the country. The Bengali community will shift gears to celebrate ‘Pujo’ from ‘Shashti’ (October 4), worshipping colourful and lavish idols of Goddess Durga and spending the festive time with family and friends.

This is, however, a distant dream for the sculptors who make these idols.

West Bengal-based sculptors have been on their toes to complete orders of Durga idols, which have to be delivered at 42 Pandals in Pune. With last-minute finishing touches to complete, there is hardly any time for celebration for them.

At the Aundh Road workshop, 15 sculptors were busy painting the idols and correcting the clay work on the Saturday afternoon.

“We will deliver few of the idols. Soon, the members of various Puja committees will arrive to take their idols,” said Tapas Pal, who along with his father Sukharanjan Pal (80), comes to Pune every year to make the Durga idols. He indicated that he was hard pressed for time. 

Sukharanjan and his group have been coming to Pune for the past 35 years. 

While Bengalis celebrate Durga Puja with festive fervour, sculptors and artisans miss all the fun. As the sculptors travel to different cities to make Durga idols months prior to the festival, many of them miss the celebrations with their family back home.

“It has become normal for us now. Initially, we would feel bad that our family members have to celebrate the festival without us. Our children too often request us to stay back at home. But making idols is our source of income,” said Sukharanjan. 

Keshto Pal (57) and his group members came to Pune a month ago from Mumbai after finishing work on Durga idols there. Their workshop is at Bhosale Nagar.  

“We have a huge work order in Mumbai too. Every year, we come to Mumbai and Pune four months prior to the Durga Puja celebrations,” he said while completing sculpture of Goddess Lakshmi for Mahalakshmi Puja celebrated by Benaglis a few days after Durga puja. 

Sameer Haldar, who belongs to Nabadwip of West Bengal, has been in this business for the past nine years. “I belong to a place, which is famous for its temples and religious expeditions. I have grown up in surrounding areas of idol making of various Gods and Goddesses. It attracted me a lot. Hence, I took it up as a profession,” said the 30-year-old Haldar.

“I speak to my two-year-old daughter daily. She doesn’t like to stay home without me and has only one thing to tell me on phone, baba kobe ascho? (father, when are you coming back). I don’t have any answer for her, I feel bad but this is my job. I earn my living through this profession. One needs to be passionate about making idols, only then, it is possible to stay away from home and work devotedly,” said Haldar struggling to recall when was the last time he enjoyed Durga Puja with his family. It may have been two or three years back or more than that, he said.

Most of these sculptors return home after Diwali ends, as many stay back to build the idols of Goddess Kali for Kali Puja.

The workshop becomes the home for them, eating and sleeping there itself. 

“Many a times, few among us fall sick due to weather change. This time one of the sculptors was diagnosed with dengue immediately after we came to Pune. Even in Mumbai, one of our workers fell sick. We also get infected, due to continuous use of the mud and soil. Our hands develop infections,” Keshto told Sakal Times. 

“We face these types of health issues routinely. We take local treatment as well,” he added.

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