In BJP-governed Assam, Nuruddin Ahmed makes world’s tallest Durga

Artist Nuruddin Ahmed who designed the 100 feet height Goddess Durga made out of bamboo pose for photograph infront of the 100 feet height Goddess Durga in a Durga puja mandap ahead of the celebration of Durga puja at Bishnupur in Guwahati . Express Photo by Dasarath Deka

Fifty-nine year old Nuruddin Ahmed has no problem making idols and images of Durga, or for that matter any other Hindu god or goddess. On Monday he completed a 101-foot tall Durga – which he believes is the world’s tallest Durga image – with bamboo splits woven around bamboo poles, a typical Assamese rural craft, in the heart of Guwahati, hoping to get an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

“I have no issue over making idols, sculptures and images of Hindu gods and goddesses. In fact I have been making them since 1975, when I made my first Durga idol with clay, bamboo and straw in North Lakhimpur, for the local puja committee there. Since then I have been making Durga images and idols every year except in 1991 when a major health problem kept me down,” Ahmed said.

He has used over 5,000 bamboo for the durga sculpture, and dozens of bamboo dola (bamboo trays used for cleaning rice), saloni (bamboo sieve), pasi and khorahi (different bamboo baskets) as also the well-known jaapi – the typical Assamese field hat – to complete his assignment.

Ahmed proudly speaks of using the mask-making tradition of the Vasihnavite satra institutions of Majuli island to give finishing touches to the Mother Goddess image for the Bishnupur Sarbajanin Durga Puja Samiti that has become the talk of the town here. Ahmed, and for that matter the local committee had a major on September 17 when a storm had pulled down the Durga sculpture that was almost complete. “But, with the blessings of the devi, I and my boys could put it back in shape in the last six days,” Ahmed said.

“Some people, including a section of media are asking me funny questions about why I being a Muslim chose to make Durga idols and sculptures. I have grown up in the Assamese tradition where there is a lot of religious tolerance in comparison to most other parts of India. Chandsai, one of the principal disciples of Srimanta Sankaradeva, the greatest saint-reformer of mediaeval Assam was a Muslim,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed, who had left a course in Art mid-way in the JJ College of Arts in Mumbai in the early 1970s, and returned to Assam to work in the state’s film industry, has so far worked in over 100 films and has bagged several awards as an art director. He has also worked as an art director for several mobile theatre groups since 1976.

A view of 100 feet height Goddess Durga made out of Bamboo designed by artist Nuruddin Ahmed in a Durga puja mandap ahead of the celebration of Durga puja at Bishnupur in Guwahati. Express Photo by Dasarath Deka

“It has been for the last seven years that I have been making the Durga idol for the Bishnupur puja samiti here. For 12 years I have been making the idol for the Kalibari at Bamunimaidam. I have a team of about 40 young men, both Hindus and Muslims, from villages in Nalbari and Kamrup districts,” Ahmed said with pride.

“We are proud to have Nuruddin Ahmed with us for the last seven years. His work has put our puja on focus for the past several days,” said Prashanta Bose of the Bishnupur puja samiti.

Ahmed, whose wife Junu Rajkhowa, a school teacher and NCC trainer, is a Hindu, and so also Sandhya, a Tamil Hindu girl who is his second son Deep’s wife. “While I regularly go to the masjid, my wife is a devout Hindu who not only offers puja on a daily basis but also attends the naam-ghar throughout the month of bhada,” he said.

Priests at the famous shakti-peeth of Kamakhya here too say they have no issues about a Muslim making a Durga idol. “We have no objection to a Muslim making idols of Hindu gods and goddesses. In fact Nuruddin Ahmed is not the first Muslim to have made such idols. There would be many such artisans all over Assam, and nobody has any problem. We even don’t have problems if people of other faiths visit the Kamakhya temple, the original abode of the Mother Goddess,” said Mohit Chandra Sarma, chief doloi of the shakti temple.

“Religious equations among the Assamese people are very interesting. The Assamese Muslim devotional songs which we call zikir and zari have numerous references to Hindu deities. I know of temples which have a particular day in the week designated for Muslim devotees,” said Ranjib Sarma, a spokesperson of the RSS in Assam.