Kolkata:By the time the winter sets to withdraw from Bengal and the neighbouring states, the region gears up for the season’s first festivities, that of Saraswati Puja, the worship of the goddess of knowledge. But, Covid-19 related restrictions and closed down education institutions have not only put a brake on the festivities among the students and teachers, it has also spelt doom for the hundreds of craftsmen and artisans in the lanes and bylanes of Kumartuli, the largest idol hub of India.
Choosing a Saraswati idol is not something that follows the trend of Durga Puja or that of Kali or other religious festivals where idols are involved. In fact, the choice is more on the lines of Laxmi idols sold immediately after the Durga Puja. Artisans of Kumartuli say, people choose Saraswati idols on the spot.
“For Saraswati idols, it is more of a rack selling or like picking from the shelf. There are very few prior orders like that of the Durga or Kali idols. This trend is followed in Laxmi idols also, but in case of Laxmi idols, they are mostly small in size as the idols are nearly all purchased by those who organise the pujas in their own homes.
"There are very few institutions where Laxmi puja is held, unlike Saraswati puja, where there is nearly a 50:50 ratio of household and educational institutions. Plus, the numbers are much higher in case of Saraswati idols because in some households, Laxmi puja is performed minus the idol and replaced with paddy stacks and other items,” said Sanatan Pal, an artisan of Kumartuli.
Pandemic has wreaked havoc, say artisans
And this is where the pandemic has wreaked havoc. With closed educational institutions across West Bengal and much of the East, the artisans have simply scaled down their production.
“Nobody wants to incur losses. We have suffered a lot due to this pandemic. Many skilled artists have simply left Kumartuli in search of other modes of livelihood and nobody can be blamed. They have to sustain,” said Ranjit Sarkar, joint secretary of the Kumartuli Mritshilpo Sanskritik Samity, an umbrella body of Kumartuli clay idol artisans.
“Around 110 shops in Kumartuli make Saraswati idols with an average of 100 idols per shop. This year, we will hardly reach half of that number. There was some hope after the second wave and we were all geared up. But, this third wave has literally broken our backs. Schools and colleges are shut. They will not open only for the sake of puja.
"And more so, there will be hardly any budget with the institutions for organising Saraswati pujas, which involve bigger sized idols. Even if schools and colleges reopen before Saraswati puja, it is practically impossible to come up with idols by the time the puja starts according to the almanac. At Kumartuli, we rely mostly on organic raw materials for making the idols. There are no fixed dice or mechanisms, which makes things easy,” added Sarkar.
Artisans like Sanatan and Sujit Pal do not see a point in stacking their godowns with unsold idols. “It is a bad proposition as we have seen during the intervening period of the first and second wave of this killer virus. So, we will be making around 10 idols or so and mostly of the smaller sizes, which goes to the households,” said Sujit adding, “At one end there is no order and on the other end, prices of raw materials simply keep escalating. Even last year a bamboo pole used to cost around Rs 100, which is Rs 140 this year. From bundles of hay to ropes, which are essential raw materials for clay idols, the prices have nearly doubled.”
Ranjit said, Kumartuli is not hoping they would get any buyers from neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand, where Saraswati Puja is celebrated in a big way. “We have a steady clientele from both these states, but this time there is hardly anyone till now. With the puja barely two weeks from now, nothing will change. This Saraswati Puja, the artisans have lost yet another opportunity to turn around."
