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Beyond Kumortuli: The unsung artisans who bring Durga Puja to life

While idol making is what we focus on during Durga Puja, here's a glimpse of various other artisans hurrying their work each day to meet deadlines and orders

Subhadrika Sen

Every year with the arrival of the monsoons in June / July the artisan hubs get ready for the Durga Puja load. For almost 4-5 months Kumartuli and surroundings pockets in North Calcutta are abuzz with activities. While mostly one puts the spotlights on the beautiful Durga idols, some even thematic like this year’s Ai idol, there are a lot of other artisans at work in the field too. While the idol is a major part of the cultural event, the pandal itself is one of attractions that lures hundreds and thousands of people each year. And a pandal has too many parts and components to it. From the bamboo structures to the Chaalchitra from the customised decors of the interiors to intricate hand-painted idols, all form a major part of the celebrations and keep the artisans busy. With just a handful days left for Mahalaya and the inauguration of the pandals, we took a stroll in the artisan gully to see last minute preparations.

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A major chunk of pandal decorations happen with thermocol. While thermocol stencils pasted on the pandal walls are nothing new, a full volume sculpture crafted out of one single block of thermocol is a laborious process.
One has to get the size right, make markings on the medium, cut it to size, smoothen it and then colour it, if required. These are processes which take at least one to two days time or even longer depending on the customisation.
Bamboos have a very strong connection with Durga Puja. Right from the Khunti puja which is perfomed on a bamboo pole to the first foundation laid by the bamboo sticks, the relation with bamboo goes quite deep. But bamboo sticks are used to create elaborate decorative sculptures that are placed in the pandal and decors.
Moreover, thin bamboo strips are washed, softened and cut to make the backbone of a Chaalchitra, the backdrop on which the Durga idols are placed. The labour and work depends on the size of the Chaalchitra. First the framework is made with nails and bamboo sticks. Then the gaps are filled with recycled paper attached to each other through a mixture of handmade glue. One can say this resembles the art of papier mache.
Even though modern glue are very evolved and fix things quickly, traditional artisans still prefer to use the age old fix – Gond. A hand-made glue out of maida, wheat, fruit seeds, water it is slow heated to get a thick consistency which is then used to stick papers for the Chaalchitra. While some were busy sticking paper on paper, another batch of people were hurrying in making the last few pots of Gond.
A lot of intricate handwork is involved in the overall process of putting up a pandal. Artisans are often seen hand drawing different deities or mythological characters and instances for a chaalchitra, mandap, or other interiors. We found an artist deep in completing one such design.
Even before organic colours became a trend, tradition has been using them for one of the biggest events of the year. Many of the colours used are organic and hand-made. While turmeric is added to give a yellow colour, chalk is added to make a bright white, leftover soot from lamps are turned into the kohl –like black colour while segun leaves are used to make a brown tint. These coloured pigments are first crushed, powdered and then mixed with natural adhesives to make the colour which are organically water-proof and long lasting. Also, they are cost effective and sustainable.
Creating a complete Durga family idol is not just about clay and colours. It is also about patience, fabrics and textures. Avoiding the crowd if you do get a chance to come near the idol and touch them, you would notice that there are different textures to the fully dressed idol. From the clink-clanks of the jewellery to the wavy long hair or the sharpness of the weapons and even the lion is sometimes made of fabrics rather than just paint. We saw how the lion was being layered with cloth and clay to get the smooth fur look.
Shola is another traditional craft from West Bengal where a plant is turned into a marvel. One of the few remaining shola artists in Kumartuli also had his hands full while intricately carving onto them and creating masterpieces.

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