Mumbai: City idol makers fill in for Bengali artisans at Durga Puja

MUMBAI: The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the way idols of Goddess Durga are manufactured for Navratra in the city. Expert Bengali artisans who come to Mumbai weeks before the festival and carve moortis at Durga Puja pandals on site have been unable to arrive this year.
So local workshops are filling the gap, making miniature Durga Puja idols from hay and clay, and plaster of paris moortis for Maharashtrian pandals. Navratra begins October 17 while Durga Puja will be celebrated October 21 onward.
Reshma Khatu, who owns one of the largest idol-making units in the city, says, "Of the 80-90 mandals who commission Devi idols to us each year, approximately 30 have decided to dispense with the moorti completely this season. They will celebrate Navratra by performing the Kalash puja instead. So I have crafted around 50 idols this year. Since the state guidelines for Navratra celebrations were issued considerably late, we were short of time and had to settle for plaster of paris which can be moulded and dried faster than clay. All the moortis are up to 4 ft in keeping with the official recommendation by the state government. Normally they measure 6.5 ft."
Khatu supplies idols to mandals in Pratiksha Nagar, Kurla, Mazgaon and Bhatwadi, Ghatkopar.
Over in Taloja MIDC, the workshop of Govind Kor Chaudhary is putting the final touches to idols for prominent Durga Puja pandals like Ramakrishna Mission, Khar, Dadar Shivaji Park, North Bombay Puja, Tulip Star Juhu, and Powai Durgotsav.
Chaudhary said, "I have assembled some old-time, expert karigars for idol making although my business is mandap decoration. Traditional Durga Puja pandals fashion idols from hay, and clay procured from the banks of the river Ganges in West Bengal. We started well in advance while we waited for the state to issue guidelines. But we had a rather difficult time. We had to transport the wet mud and hay from Kolkata by tempo because trains are not plying."
Chaudhary's idols are designed to a maximum of 4 ft too, although cleverly, the height of the base has been excluded from this rule. So some moortis may stand taller given the large platform.