Durga idol delivered to puja organiser, two-months ahead of puja

With two months to go for Bengal's biggest festival, the first Durga idol for a city- based puja organiser was delivered from Kumartuli, the clay modellers hub, bringing hope in the minds of the artisans and organisers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

With two months to go for Bengal's biggest festival, the first Durga idol for a city-based puja organizer was delivered from Kumartuli, the clay modelers hub, bringing hope in the minds of the artisans and organizers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Idol maker Mintu Pal on Sunday handed over the idols of the deity and her progeny to a family in Haridevpur area of the city who have been organizing Durga Puja for years.

"It is a happy sign. The sign that the pandemic jinx is broken and Uma (as Durga is fondly called by Bengalis) will leave the workshops to pandal and households like in past years, even if in lesser numbers," Pal told reporters. Asked about the reason for delivering the idol so early, Pal said the household puja organizers wanted it early and the fiberglass idol will not suffer any 'decay' in the intervening time before Durga puja in October.

"With the spike in COVID-19 cases, we don't want to wait till October. Also, we want to avoid the crowd at Kumartuli during the run-up to puja days when everyone will converge at the place and social distancing cannot be maintained," said Soma Chakraborty, a member of the family organizing the Durga Puja. The idol was sculpted by Kartik Paul who said there were several orders from both household and community puja organizers but the number was less this year compared to previous years.

"I am hopeful pictures of delivery of this Durga idol and your news will spread feel-good factor and prompt more organizers to book for idols immediately," he said. A spokesman of Kumartuli Mritshilpo Sanskriti Samity said the association started sanitization of idols and workshops in the artisan's hub and distributing masks among the idol makers since August 5.

There had also been the delivery of over 200 Mansa idols whose worship is being held on Monday, the spokesman said.