With elections over, Kolkata gears up for Durga Puja

Kumartuli’s statue makers have completed half of their orders, artists are working on pandal designs, neighbourhood committees are meeting frequently and the joy of the town began immediately after the elections, with people engrossed in preparations for Durga Puja, which takes place in the second week of October.

Usually, this is the time when Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra is performed. Puja Though it has yet to officially open, preparations have begun for several weeks, as celebrations have expanded in scale and duration since the COVID-19 pandemic and the festival has been recognised by UNESCO.

“We received our first order just after the elections were over. This year we have received 11 orders and the basic clay work has already been completed. Gone are the days of placing idols in pandals just before elections. Sashti [sixth of the nine auspicious autumn days when Durga Puja formally begins]”These days, the pandal is open to visitors from day one,” said idol maker Indrajit Pal.

What annoys him a bit is that the cost of raw materials has increased by at least 15 percent yet the idols are still being sold at the same price as last year.

“Though everything – bamboo, straw and jewellery worn by the goddess – has gone up in price now, customers insist on paying what they paid last year. I can’t do anything as they are my old customers,” said Pal. Pal is proud that this year his set of Durga idols has been designed in Rajasthani style and the goddess and her children are all dressed in Rajasthani costumes.

Hazra Udayan Sangha is one of the oldest public health organisations. Puja The Kolkata pandal will be announcing this year’s pandal theme at an event on July 14. Puja Kalighat was founded in 1946, the year of the Calcutta Massacre (which ultimately led to the partition of Calcutta), but at that time very few festivals were held in the city.

“These days, preparations for Durga Puja begin after Diwali the previous year. If you want to build a big pandal that can be visited by many, which is needed to attract sponsorship, you have to start early. For us, this change from a modest neighbourhood puja to a massive celebration came in 2021 when we celebrated director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who used to live here and participated in the puja. This year’s theme is, well, that’s a secret for now, but the pandal is being designed by a woman artist, Suchana Samanta,” said Anirban Ghoshal, spokesperson for Hazra Udayan Sangha.

Preparations have begun at home PujaThough there are a few famous houses that draw their fair share of visitors, preserving traditions is more important here than increasing numbers. “We have completed collection of the five types of clay needed to make the idols,” said Ray Banerjee, archivist at Halaktir, a well-known heritage house in north Kolkata.

“Our house is 271 years old but our pujas were performed in a mud-walled house that was even older and had been there for 50 years,” said Ray Banerjee, a PhD student and alumnus at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. “Our idols are made in our home and the work on them starts as soon as regular maintenance work is done. Even the artisans who make the idols have been associated with the family for generations. This house dates back to when this place was still a village called Sutanuti.”