Post-Covid, Kolkata's Durga idol makers getting good orders from abroad

Kolkata: A robust order flow from foreign countries after two back-to-back slack seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic is making creators of Durga idols in Kolkata happy, though the bookings are yet to reach the pre-coronavirus levels.

The overseas orders increased three times compared to last year and 12 times the 2020 figure, a spokesperson of a key organisation of artisans in Kumartuli, the clay modellers’ colony in north Kolkata, said.

“Around 60 idols are going abroad this year. The number was not more than 20 in 2021 and five in the previous year,” Kumartuli Mritshilpi Samity spokesperson Kartik Pal told PTI.

While some idols have already been sent, others will be dispatched soon as the festival begins at the end of September.

However, around 100 idols were shipped to overseas nations in 2018 and ’19 from Kumartuli, senior artisan Mintu Pal told PTI.

The idols sent to European, North and South American countries and other nations are generally made of fibreglass.

People who worship the goddess on foreign soil use a single idol for a few years in a row, unlike those who do it in India.

Another feel-good factor for the artisans is that new destinations were added to their list of offshore countries.

Mintu Paul said he could send only 5-6 idols from his studio in Kumartuli last year, while this year the number is 14.

"Already 12 idols - including five to the US, three to the UK and one each to Uganda and Italy – have been shipped. Two others are destined to be dispatched to Japan and Switzerland by September 4-5," he said.

To a question, he said the price of an idol sent abroad starts from Rs one lakh in Indian currency and it rises depending on the height and materials used.

Mintu Pal said the “good news” is he is sending idols to two new destinations - Uganda and Switzerland – and he hopes that the momentum will increase from next year’s Durga Puja.

Famed artisan Prodyut Paul, who had shipped at least 10 idols to his clients in the UK, the US and other countries till 2019, did not get a single booking in two succeeding years as the pandemic raged on.

“This year, I have sent one idol to New Jersey, America. Maa Durga willing, things will be back on the pre-Covid levels in next year’s puja," he added.