Accessorising is serious business. Requires painstaking attention to detail; no shortcuts there even if you are a god or goddess, albeit with clay feet.

Ma Durga and her retinue's accessories fall into two categories. " Daaker saaj is peculiar to Krishnagar [in Bengal's Nadia district]. And sholar kaaj is specific to Katwa [in East Burdwan]," says Ashish Kumar Bagchi, who owns a daaker saaj "factory".

"Come and see for yourself," he tells The Telegraph over phone. Bagchi refers to these accessories used to dress up her holiness and her extended family as daaker saaj, but traditionally the term was used for the adornments created out of beaten silver foil. Since the foil came from Germany - Raja Krishna Chandra, who ruled over Krishnagar, patronised this décor - by daak or post, the décor came to be named after it. The practice, however, stopped around the time of World War II. "There was no mail so this trend came to a halt. And sholar kaaj [pieces made out of the white sponge wood plant] picked up," adds Bagchi.

If you take a local train from Sealdah, you will reach Krishnagar station in three hours' time. Thereafter, a 15-minute rickshaw ride and we are in Chakerpara and at Bagchi's home-cum-factory. He ushers us into a large dimly-lit space and says, "My factory," with a little bow.

Natural light streams in from the main door and a back door. It catches the foil, beads and sequins strewn on the floor, and the half-done shiny decorations hanging from a clothes' line, creating a chiaroscuro.

Bagchi's factory is all men, no machines. Around a dozen of them are in view, sitting cross-legged on the floor, tracing, pasting, stitching... The air inside the room is sticky with the smell of gum. At the time of this visit, in the second week of August, a lot of the pieces are work-in-progress, few are ready - a bukpata or the goddess' ornate breast plate, her mukut or crown, the kamarbandh or belt. The heaviest mukut weighs 18 kilos, and has passed through at least 10 pairs of hands. Bagchi informs that apart from these men, there are at least 20 other artisans who work for him, but out of their homes.

There was a point when it might have seemed as if the daaker saaj business would have to be wound up, but Krishnagar's factories have orders round the year. Little innovations have crept into the way business is conducted. For instance, a lot of the design is now templatised; then again much "chumki chamka" or bling has crept in; some of the commissioning and ordering happens on WhatsApp... "Earlier, the designs were simple, but the process was laborious. Now, when production is easier, designs have become very loud and gaudy. That is what people want," says Panchugopal Kar, owner of one of the oldest daaker saaj units here. His grandfather had set up the business. "During my grandfather's time, we provided the saaj for the famed Bagbazar Durga Puja [north Calcutta]. My uncle dresses up the idols at Maddox Square [south Calcutta], year after year. We cater to the Sovabazar Rajbari's puja," says Kar's son, Rajkumar.

Of the 20 to 25 daaker saaj manufacturers of Krishnagar, the oldest are the Kars. They get orders from all over the country, from Raipur to London. This time, they had got orders from Mumbai too, for Ganesh Chaturthi. The Kars outsource a lot of the work to women living in neighbouring villages with names that are a mouthful - Gobrapota, Hanskhali, Horonagar. College students of the area looking for part-time work are also enlisted. Shubhankar Das is one such; he is doing his Bachelor's in Sanskrit from Krishnagar Government College.

Running a successful business is one thing, establishing a reputation as an artist is quite another. Badal Chandra Nath is the oldest daaker saaj shilpi or artist in Krishnagar. It is late afternoon when Panchugopal Kar walks us to Badalda's - for that is how he is known around here - house. There's not a soul in sight and our calls go unanswered. We are about to walk away when he appears - old, bent, wearing a dhoti and gamchha. Badalda's house is really just a room stashed with raw material.

In 1994, Badal da was given the National Award for his art. Today, his hands shake as he works the knife on the thermocol, but his legacy is in safe hands. And one of the many upholding it is Putul Boiragya. About 10 years ago, she started out as an independent player in this market. She accepts a certain number of orders every year and executes them all by herself. "This year, I have got a big order, from Calcutta's Jodhpur Park."

Badal da is proud of his pupil but he blames the increasing number of karkhanas in Krishnagar for the decrease in the demand for his work. The retailers of Kumartuli source the daaker saaj from Krishnagar and sell it along with the idols to clients. It's a convenient yolking.

Easy to forget Krishnagar's role.

Manasi Shah