 New Delhi : The economic downturn has taken some glitter off the Durga Puja this year, the centenary year, in the Capital. Enthusiasm and a peaceful run-up to the festivities, unlike last year which was marred by bomb blasts, though make up for it. The afternoon sun beats down on the dilapidated compound of Chandralok Cinema in a far corner of Chittaranjan Park, residential neighbourhood, in the Capital.
Manik Pal, a clay artisan from Krishnanagar in West Bengal, has just finished making his 16th idol inside a makeshift tent crammed with clay moulds of the goddess and her four children. When installed per religious tradition, they will be worshipped for four days by the Bengali community across the country from September 26-29.
Pal has sold four idols. Recession has taken its toll on his business. The idols are priced between Rs.10,000 and Rs.50,000. "I have been forced to reduce the price of idols because the Durga Puja organisers are not willing to pay more. But the prices of clay and other accessories like 'shola (thermocol)', glue, mirrors, zari, sequins, coir rope, ornaments and even the silk textiles have risen," Pal told reporters in the Capital.
The artisan uses clay from Kolkata and Punjab. "One tractor of clay from Punjab costs Rs.7,000 and I required nearly 10 tractors of clay. The clay that I brought from Kolkata is cheaper at Rs.2,000," said Pal, who belongs to a family of artisans. The craftsman, who uses eco-friendly inputs like natural colours, is not sure whether he will be able to come back next year.
"The mood, however, is optimistic and people are upbeat unlike last year, when bomb blasts before the Puja dampened spirits. The enthusiasm makes up for the downturn and the slash in Puja budgets," Dipayan Mazumdar, vice-president of the Kashmere Gate Durga Puja Samiti, which is heralding a century of celebrations this year, told reporters.
Most of the Pujas have cut down on their entertainment budgets by at least 30 per cent, but the core festivities and rituals have not been touched, Samir Banerjee, secretary of G-K-II Puja Samiti, told reporters.
As most of the national capital region (NCR) pujas are funded by corporate bodies, Shipra Sun City near Indirapuram in the east of the national capital region and its adjacent technology and private residential complexes had to knock more doors for money, Amitabh Mazumdar, CEO of Allied Healthsciences, a member of the Shipra Sun City Puja Committee, told reporters. Durga Puja was first celebrated in Delhi in 1910 by ritually consecrating the "mangal ghat", the symbol of the "devi". The idol puja started in 1912 and the first idol was purchased from Kashi.
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