Mangaldai idol makers gear up for Durga Puja amid rising expenses, fading legacy

Mangaldai, Sept 25: With Xarodiya Durgosav round the corner, artisans of Mangaldai along with the rest of the state are busy in giving finishing touches to the idols of Goddess Durga and others.

Ganesh Mandal, an artisan and owner of Biswakarma Silpalay with professional experience of over 40-long years here, is busy in preparing idols of the Goddess for four local community puja mandaps.

"Every year I, along with my workers and family members, remain busy at work nearly four months before the start of the festive season. This year, the preparations had to be started even before the date since the time interval between the two festivals Biswakarma Puja and Durga Puja is very short," he said.

Ganesh Mandal, who had learnt the art from his artisan father late Panchanan Mandal, upgraded himself as a seasoned artisan to run their unit after his father's demise. He said that in each festive season he invests an amount of around Rs 1 lakh for purchase of raw materials and labour payments.

"During the season starting from Biswakarma Puja and ending at Raas festival, Rs 2 lakh against cash investment and hard work, and we have to pass sleepless nights in the final phase of preparations of the Goddess Durga," artisan Man-dal said.

He also stated that the prices of idols have risen from 10 to 15 percent over the last year due to the rise of labour charges, cost of raw materials etc. "The wages of the labourers have almost been doubled from that of the previous years. Similarly, clay to prepare idols are found only at Barbagan, Kalaigaon," he said. "On the other hand, the other important component of raw materials, is also hard to find following the technological intervention in paddy harvesting. Thus, one big bunch of such straw now costs more than Rs 1,000," artisan Mandal added.

Regarding the commercial future prospect of the trade, he said that the situation gradually turned normal after the complete collapse during the Covid-19 pandemic for two seasons. However, the challenges still continued with hardly any patronage from the government sectors, and the younger generation reluctant to take it up as a profession.

"I took over the job from my father and carried it for-ward as our ancestral profession. However, my three sons, all well-educated, hesitate to take the practice as their future profession. They feel shy of doing job-with clay, straw etc. So, I am quite concerned about the commercial future of our traditional practice”, Mandal observed.