Artisan Biswanath Dey applies finishing touches to a pure gold crown, which has the motif of a dancing peacock, for the Chauliaganj puja mandap in Cuttack. The crown is worth Rs 1 crore. “Nearly 3.1kg of gold has been used to mould the crown. It has exquisite gold filigree work. Biswanath Dey and two of his sons took almost six years to complete the crown,” says secretary of the Chauliaganj Puja Committee Siba Sahu. “The traditional craft in silver as the base metal has progressed to gold. The credit goes to the patronage of some Puja committees in recent years,” said Dey. Text: Lalmohan Patnaik, Picture: Badrika Nath Das