Kruti Mistry next to her floral creation at Birla Mandir on Janmashtami. (Rashbehari Das)

If you’ve visited Birla Mandir around Janmashtami, you couldn’t have missed the elaborate floral decorations put up on the temple premises over 12 days in the run-up to Lord Krishna’s birthday.

The Jhulan decorations, which traditionally accompany a Janmashtami puja, are the handiwork of Kruti Mistry, a 51-year-old resident of Pretoria Street. Kruti, who became a Calcutta resident by marriage, runs Nalinee Florists at her home and has been doing up the Ballygunge temple’s Jhulan display for the past eight years.

“Doing the Jhulan décor is my biggest project, even though I do floral designs for weddings, embassy parties and other big events too,” said Kruti. “And every year I do completely new designs. I haven’t repeated a single design for the temple Jhulan in the past eight years,” she pointed out proudly.

Every design put on display has to first meet the approval of Nandini Nopany, who supervises the arrangements and aesthetic details of the temple as well as the Janmashtami decorations on behalf of the Vishwa Mangal Trust. “She insists on new designs every year and she is very thorough,” smiled Kruti, who also holds an MS in ayurvedic medicine from the University of Jamnagar and an MD in the same discipline from Calcutta University.

Standing beside her vibrant labour of love on Thursday, Kruti explained to Metro how the preparations for the festival begin months in advance. Nandini checks the samples at least two-and-a-half months before the festival begins, after which Kruti begins making the designs.

“It’s a lot of hard work because each detail that you see around the temple gets individual attention,” said Kruti, adding that the display holds a mix of traditional and modern motifs. “I love to use everyday items that are found in all homes, from bells to broomsticks. Flowers are sourced from Howrah, and the more exotic varieties are flown in from Bangkok,” she added.

So, how did a woman of herbs end up with the flowers? “It’s a family business, stared by my aunt-in-law Nalini Mistry in 1968”, replied the lady with the flower power.