(From top) Vishwakarma idols awaiting finishing touches in Paikpara; an artisan works on a Durga idol. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta

In a quiet lane off Indra Biswas Road in Paikpara, half-done images of Goddess Durga stand with their hands outstretched, the midday sun baking their wet clay moulds. A few metres away on Olaichandi Road, artisans dab colour on Vishwakarma idols.... With less than a month to go for Puja, Paikpara has turned into a mini-Kumartuli.

A group of artisans work out of Paikpara, in bamboo huts covered with polythene sheets as studios. Their families had set up shop here back in the 1950s, having failed to get a foothold in Kumartuli after migrating from Bangladesh. The vast open spaces in verdant Paikpara seemed just right for an idol-making hub.

“My father didn’t have the resources to get a space in Kumartuli. So he decided to settle down in Paikpara,” recalls 48-year-old Tarak Rudra Pal.

Puja committees come to the Paikpara artisans for traditional idols, not fancy themes. The neighbourhood clubs are loyal customers.

Septuagenarian Gouranga Pal and his sons churn out around 20-25 Durga idols a year. They supply to pujas in Paikpara, Belgachhia, Datta Bagan and Bagbazar.

Pintu Pal and Tarak Rudra Pal are targeting 15 Durga idols each for clubs in Belgachhia, Paikpara, Lake Town and Shyambazar. Among them, only Shankar Pal makes idols for “barir puja”.

Depending on the number of idols they make through the year, the monthly income of an artisan ranges from Rs 3,500 to Rs 12,000.

While some make idols round-the-year, a few explore other sources of income as well.

“We sell fruits in the off-season. What we earn during the festive season is not enough to see us through the whole year,” says Dhananjay Pal.

Shankar Pal works for another artisan during off-season.

Space crunch

Just as in Kumartuli, the Paikpara artisans have been hit by a space problem. Those operating from Olaichandi Road have outgrown the narrow footpath where they started out decades back.

“We can only start work on Durga idols after Vishwakarma puja as there is no space to stack both kinds of idols. This affects our business because we are left with little time after Vishwakarma puja and we have to hire workers to meet the deadline,” complains Sanjay Pal.

Ashok Pal rues: “I cannot take big orders because of the space crunch.”

Artisans functioning from the lane off Indra Biswas Road are faced with a different problem — they have been asked by Tallah police station to vacate the stretch. “The police said they need this space to set up a traffic police training centre on the Circus Maidan. We have been asked to shift to the Belgachhia railway line. But that stretch is too narrow for us to work,” says Pintu Pal, who along with his friends, is gearing up for another migration.