A lightwork with LEDs; (below) artiste Sridhar Das with earlier works. Pictures by Pradip Sanyal

Two huge animated models of elephants greet visitors at the entrance of Asim Dey’s workshop in Chandernagore. “There’ll be lights in the eyes,” says a worker. The elephants will adorn the College Square puja. Dey, one of the Chandernagore light artistes who has been working for 23 years, is doing the illuminations for four pujas this year – in College Square, Ekdalia, Kalighat and Puddapukur.

But the number has dropped in the past five or six years. The colourful lightworks showing children playing, animals moving, aircraft and automobiles — once a huge draw — have fewer takers in Calcutta these days.

“With theme pujas, the demand for our kind of lights has dropped by 15-20 per cent. Those who go in for themes want lights in sync,” says Dey. It is not possible to match lightworks with a terracota or jute theme.

Sridhar Das has been working with lights for the past 50 years. The artiste, who was a pioneer in getting the lightwork of Chandannagore recognised in the state and beyond, has worked for the Thames Festival. Recently he created Mamata’s figure and her symbol in light for the party’s campaign before the Lok Sabha elections. He also lit up a Ganesh puja pandal in front of the Trinamul chief’s house. But this year, he has only two Calcutta pujas on his list — Singhi Park and Saurav Ganguly’s neighbourhood Puja.

The ageing artiste cannot work as much as in the past. That’s only one reason. “Orders from Calcutta have shrunk by 35 per cent. Places like Babubagan and Jodhpur Park do not have our kind of lights anymore,” he says.

That was the bad news. But fewer orders from Calcutta have not meant less work for Chandannagore.

Orders have increased from the districts and places beyond Bengal. “My lights are going to Jharkhand, Mumbai and Gujarat,” says Das.

Dey’s lights are travelling to Assam during Puja. He has worked recently in Delhi, Mumbai and Bhilai. “Outside Bengal they want our lights even for weddings. We would probably show a butterfly, a common symbol of marriage, or two hands joined. This kind animated lights are made only in Chandernagore,” says Das.

Outside orders pay much better. “We get at least three times more,” says Dey. But Calcutta still helps one to get noticed.

“Many of us now have our own website. So clients get to know about us and contacting us is also easier,” says Das. Orders from outside Bengal have gone up, the artistes feel, also because of the new kind of lights. “We don’t use the traditional Chandernagore lamps (miniature bulbs) any more. Those consumed more electricity and many could not afford it. Now we work with LED (light-emitting dials),” says Dey. The designs are drawn on a fibreglass sheet, and then the LEDs are fixed to it.

“For the artiste, it’s more expensive. If I could finish a design with one rupee using lamps, LEDs will cost Rs 2.00 to 2.50. But it has helped us reach more customers,” says Babu Pal, whose works will be seen at pujas at Sreebhumi, Dhaka, Guwahati, Ranchi and Mumbai this year. But the benefits for the clients are huge. A lightwork using bulbs used to consume 1000watts earlier but will now consume only 20-25 watts with LED.

There are some drawbacks. “These works are fixed. Earlier we could cut out the lamps and rework the design. Which is why we do not use current affairs in our themes now,” says Sanatan Roy.

Artistes now have ready patterns to show organisers when they come calling. “What is being used in Calcutta now will be sent to some other client elsewhere next year,” Roy says. He has created cartoon characters, birds and animals and Tarzan rescuing a girl from a dinosaur — designs that can be recycled. But old habits die hard. Dey has also created Mamata flagging off a train and the death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy in the helicopter crash.

For Babu Pal, LED has meant the death of the original Chandernagore lamps. “We get the LEDs from outside, mainly China. The old lamps were made in Joynagar. That industry is dying,” he said.

The artiste is working hard to keep the traditional art alive. “Maybe we could use low-voltage lamps. That will reduce electricity consumption. Last year, I used LEDs at the Dubai Shopping Festival. But this year they wanted lamps,” he said.