Delhi’s Kumartuli: Where Bengalis create Durga idols

”We are neck deep in work. Hardly a few days left for Durga Puja to begin. We need to complete our work by Panchami (September 25),” Rajbongshi, 57, said while he sipped his evening cup of tea. 

Every year, some 1,500 km from Kolkata, a replica comes up of Kumartuli (the hub in the eastern metropolis where Durga idols are made) and artisans and craftsmen are flown in from West Bengal to create the idols for Durga Puja —the most anticipated festival for Bengalis. Idols of different sizes and shapes, from ‘ek-chala-thakur’ (all idols on one platform) to the large traditional ones, or the trending theme-based idols — these artisans, with their magical touch, recreate the charisma of goddess Durga every year for New Delhi’s large Bengali population. 

“Making of the goddess is not an easy affair. It is very time-consuming. It takes lot of patience and mental strength as well as stamina. We have to deliver more than 50 orders and there is very little time left,” said artisan Montu Pal as he remained engrossed in his work. 

Pal, 55, from Nadia, has been making idols for more than 15 years. Learning the craft from his father, Pal said the craft of idol-making is the only thing he knows and is efficient at. Like him, Rajbongshi too has been into idol-making since his childhood and turned it into a profession after completing his schooling. It’s not an easy life for the artisans. 

Starting at eight in the morning, their work continues till two in afternoon. Following a lunch break of three hours, they again resume work from five in the evening. Sustaining in such an environment for a long becomes a little uncomfortable for the artisans. They, at times, find their freedom curtailed. 

“It is no less than a jail here, just that there’s no cage and no bars. There’s hardly any freedom that we enjoy. It’s like being a bonded labourer. We struggle a lot to adjust; we feel homesick. Back at home, we take breaks as per our wishes but here we have to follow a routine. But then, we cannot abandon our work,” Pal explained. 

What then draws them to travel such a distance? “We do it for money. Back in Bengal, there are too many artisans, there’s competition; we get good money here. Or else, who would want to leave home and stay over here, away from the family?” Rajbongshi said. Despite facing such hardships, given the chance to work elsewhere, all of the artisans said that they prefer the national capital. 

“People praise our work here, it gives a sense of achievement,” Pal said.