Idol maker passing busy time in Sylhet
Sylhet Bureau :
Durga Puja ceremonies will begin with Devi Bodhan on October 20 the autumn Durgo Festival will end with the sacrifice on October 24. The potters of Sylhet have also started making idols like the rest of the country.
Various preparations are going on in Mandap Mandap to welcome Goddess Durga around this upcoming festival.
Now the people of Sanatan community are waiting to enjoy the autumn festival. According to the Panjika this year Dashabhuja will arrive and depart both on a ghotka or horse and Devi Durga will arrive at the ghotka and return to Kailash on a palanquin.
And around this festival, the idol artists are spending their busy time giving the beautiful form of Goddess Durga in their imagination.
Pratima is working tirelessly from morning to night with perfect handwork. These idol artists are getting busy as the puja time approaches.
Various pavilions of the metropolitan can be seen, various preparations are going on in the pavilions, and in many pavilions the work of making idols has not yet started.
In the preliminary stage, the straw and clay work of the Durga idols in the mandaps has started. After that, in the next stage, the work of scratching the paint and cloth will continue on the idol.
On the other hand, decoration, lighting, pandal making and other works including decoration are also progressing slowly.
Apart from the Durga idol, about 12 idols including Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartika, Ganesha, Asura, Lion, Buffalo, Owl, Duck, Serpent are being made for the mandap.
Makhan Chandra Pal, an idol craftsman of Durga temple in Dariyapara in the city said that we have completed the straw and clay work in the initial phase, the clay finishing work will be done in the next phase. And we don’t have the breath to make these idols.
Goddess Mother Durga along with Goddess of Knowledge Swarsati, Goddess of Wealth Lakshmi and God Commanders Kartika and Ganesha will bring out the form of idols of various Gods and Goddesses with the touch of Nipun’s hands.
He also said that this year I have taken up the work of making idols in 4 temples. 3 people are making idols in different contracts.
Compared to last year, this year, due to the increase in the price of goods, the wages are lower due to the demand in the market, but you have to work.
So the work of color has to be done till the day of the puja. But we are getting less wages due to demand.
Along with this, it is becoming difficult to live on the wages earned by making idols after hard work in the rising commodity market. Many have left this profession.
