Idol pursuits

Driven by devotion and passion for their art, Durga idol makers have their hands full this time of year

Festive times are here again. A string of festivals will light up life in the city, with Navratri and Durga Puja marking the beginning of it all.

Navratri starts from today and the celebrations go on for nine days, while Durga Puja starts from October 13.

A prominent feature of this festival are the idols of Durga. And the idol makers are working overtime to finish their works of art so that they can hand over these to the mandals and people who install the Mata at their homes.

Kumbharwada in Rasta Peth is alive with artisans giving finishing touches to their murtis. You can see a line of open shops on the side of the road, shops that have been there for years.

The artisans are from families who are into this art for generations. Chandrakant Kumbhar (33) has been doing this from the time his little hands could play with clay as a child. "It is my family business. My father and my grandfather were also into this," said Chandrakant. "We also make Ganapati murtis."

Dutta Shinde (40) is another master, and is helped by two skilled hands, Rohit Shinde (24) and Sagar Bandal (20). "We make murtis after bookings," said Dutta. "We also make Ganapatis."

Another idol maker is Vijay Kumbhar (35), who says his whole family is involved in it. "I stay here in ubharwada, but my family lives in Mundhwa," he said.

Ajay Shinde (20) and his uncle Prakash Kumbhar (50), who have been in the business for seven years, are briskly adding finishing touches to the idols. "A big idol takes two days," said Prakash. "And colouring takes a full day."

They use plaster of Paris, and after the murtis are given shape, colouring is done.u00a0 "We use glossy fabric colours," said Chandrakant.

Vijay works with plaster of Paris, and his brother "does the painting".

Chandrakant has got some 120 murtis ready, Dutta Shinde is done with 250. Vijay this year made fewer murtis. "We made 50-60 murtis," said Vijay. "We only make murtis; others also make diyas and gamlas."

In another part of the city, artisans have come all the way from Bengal to work on Durga Ma. One of them is Kesto Pal, who has been coming to the city for the last six years.

They have camped on the Congress Bhavan Durga Puja Committee premises in Bhosari. "My family has been in this business for 30 years. We are from a village near Navdeep in Bengal. Earlier we used to go to Mumbai, and then someone had his Dada (big brother) in Pune and we slowly moved to Pune," said Kesto. "This year we have made eight big murtis which will go to the mandals in Congressu00a0 Bhavan, Koregaon Park, Kalyani Nagar, Salunke Vihar Road and so on."

His nephew Asim Pal said, "I have been in this business for 20 years,u00a0 and I love this work."