A durga puja pandal modelled on the biscomaun towers near an college and (below) a replica of the kandariya mahadev temple of khajuraho being erected at dakbungalow chowk in patna. pictures by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Oct. 10: Radheshyam Prasad, a caterer by profession, has been making idols of Goddess Durga and other deities for over 25 years now.

Prasad said he had seen many ups and downs in his life, but never ever did he think of giving up his love for making idols due to paucity of funds.

He said it was his faith and devotion for the Goddess that inspired him to decorate the idols with the best jewels possible.

Prasad’s idols are different from others as he doesn’t use mud to shape the basic structure. This year, Prasad is making idol of Bharat Mata with copper wire. Prasad said: “Around 8kg of copper wire is used for making the idol. No mud has been used to shape the idols. The base of the idol is of paper.”

Prasad’s ideas are innovative but he is not interested in selling his creations. According to him, interested persons or puja samitis pay him token money for the idols, but he never sells them.

Apart from the copper wire idol of Bharat Mata, Prasad is also making a pearl idol. Around 6kgs of pearls have been used for the idol which is 5ft tall.

Various puja samitis in the city install idols made by Prasad in their pandals.

Prasad said: “I thought of making idol of Goddess Durga and other deities when I was 12-year-old. I got the inspiration from my father who too was an amateur sculpture.”

Just 100metres away from Prasad’s house at Machua Toli, is the pandal promising Dasam Mahavidhya avtar of Goddess Durga.

Athletic Boys Club, Machua Toli, which has been organising puja since 1960, has planned to highlight the 10 avtars (incarnations) of Goddess Durga this year.

Dipak Kumar Paswan, the caretaker of the club, said: “This year, we will install ten avtars of Goddess Durga, namely Chinmastika, Kali, Tara Kali, Bangla Mukhi and others.”

Apart from beautiful and unique idols of Goddess Durga, the residents of the city will also get a chance to see beautiful, huge pandals.

As Patna gets into the Durga Puja celebration mode, various Puja Samitis are burning midnight oil, giving final touches to their puja pandals. Shree Krishnapuri Durga Puja Samiti, Boring Road, has erected the replica of Biscomaun Tower in their puja pandal.

Abhishek Singh, secretary of the puja samiti, said: ”The samiti through its puja pandal is trying to highlight the pride of Bihar. Biscomaun Tower is one such building which is the pride of not just Patna but the entire state.”

Shree Krishnapuri Durga Puja Samiti pandal is 101ft high. Around 30 workers have working on the pandal design for over two months now.

Another pandal at Dakbungalow Chowk is a replica of world-famous Kandariya Mahadev temple of Khajuraho. The organiser of the puja samiti said that over 30 artists have been working on the pandal which is built with plaster of Paris.

The artists have been working for over three months now. The organisers are confident the pandal will attract visitors from all over the state capital.