Artistes work overtime for Durga Puja

The five-day Durga Puja, the biggest festival of east India especially West Bengal is approaching. Pradip Mandal and his fellow artists are busy to meet the demand for goddess Durga idols on 'Mahalaya', that marks the formal beginning of Durga Puja on Monday. Similarly, Ashit, heading a group of three artistes, is working overnight to meet the deadline.

And if you think it's a usual story in West Bengal, then you are mistaken. The place where the artistes are busy making idols is Noida in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Durga Puja is widely celebrated in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Assam. The festival marks the victory of good over evil. It is believed that the goddess Durga challenged the demon Mahisashura. After a fierce battle she killed the demon.

As there are ample opportunities to work in Bengal what made Pradip and Ashit to come and work in Noida. “I wanted to earn some money at that time and it was not that I was not getting work there. Here I am doing selected work and whatever I an earning, I am happy with that,” reveals Pradip.

So, how many orders he has this year? “I used to get lots of orders every year but this time I could not take more than five sets as two of my co-workers are not well,” says Pradip. He adds, “ This time I am faced with manpower crunch, therefore I decided to take as many orders as I could deliver in time.”

As everybody is talking about inflation and cost cutting, we ask the artistes about the cost involved in the idol making. “Though it depends upon requirement, but a 7.5 feet high idol will cost a minimum Rs 20,000. This year I have got an order of 14 feet high idol for which I charged Rs 53,000,” said Ashit, who has 18 years experience in idol making.

“We invest Rs 8,000 in the beginning including idol structure, bamboos, mud, colours, hair, jewelry and other elements, labor cost. And rest depends on clients' requirement,” he added. Three other artistes working with Ashit also hail from West Bengal. Ashit pay Rs 15,000 a month to each of them. These artistes usually work on contracts basis and leave after the festive season is over.