The idol makers in Kumartuli saw promise in the numbers on Rath Yatra.
Artisans said the response this year was better than the last Rath Yatra, the festival that also marks the start of the yatra or journey to Durga Puja.
For many organisers, Rath Yatra is the occasion to book an idol of Goddess Durga or perform kathamo puja (worshipping the structure on which the idol is built).
“Ebare bhalo (This time it’s good). Better than last year,” said Kali Charan Pal, an artisan in Kumartuli.
A veteran, Kali Charan was busy in the afternoon and the evening talking to puja organisers, who turned up at the artisans’ hub on Rabindra Sarani in north Kolkata.
“Some of the organisers were from housing estates and smaller clubs. I had three bookings today. We had talks with several others. Hopefully, those will translate into bookings,” Kali Charan said.
Kumartuli is Bengal’s biggest idol-making hub with close to 400 artisans across 140 workshops. Smaller hubs are located in Kalighat, Tollygunge, Sinthee and Dum Dum.
“Last year, Kumartuli had business worth close to Rs 100 crore before the Puja,” said Babu Pal, general secretary of the Kumartuli Mritshilip Sankritik Samity. “My bookings were worth around Rs 18 lakh.”
Babu bagged four contracts on Tuesday.
Kumartuli was abuzz with customers old and new since Tuesday morning,
For many artisans, June is too early to form an idea about the kind of idols that will be in demand for the year’s Durga Puja. But going by the interactions and the bookings on Tuesday, several of them said ekchala seemed to be the choice of many organisers.
In the ekchala style, Goddess Durga and her four children are under the same structure.
“There were at least four bookings during the day for ekchala idols,” said China Pal, one of the few women idol-makers in Kumartuli.
“The average height of these idols is between seven and eight feet. A group from New Town did kathamo puja at my workshop before booking the idol,” she said.
“The price of all items has shot up. We are quoting price accordingly,” China said.
