Ranchi: This year, Goddess
Saraswati will be exhibited in myriad avatars, slaying the deadly Covid-19 virus, across different puja pandals. Ahead of Basant Panchami on February 16, many Ranchi-based artisans have themed their
idols around the pandemic.
At Peace Road, noted idol-maker Ajay Pal is crafting idols on different themes. Talking to TOI, he said, “I am working on four different themes. In the first, the goddess is holding syringe. In the second, the she dons the role of a doctor vaccinating people. The third theme has Maa putting a crown on a nurse as an acknowledgement to the efforts by the medical fraternity in the battle against the pandemic. The last theme depicts overall effects of the pandemic and how people died since the outbreak. All four are standout themes and people have booked idols as per their liking.”
Another idol-maker Suraj Karmakar of Chiroundi also has Covid-19 as the central theme. “I have depicted Maa as a doctor treating a Covid patient in one theme while in the other I have shown the goddess holding Covid safety awareness messages in her hands in place of the veena,” he said, adding that the pandemic is the single biggest theme that idol-makers are working in the post-lockdown period.
Due to several restrictions and curbs all through last year due to the lockdown, idol-makers incurred heavy losses. However, with a fall in fresh Covid cases and easing of lockdown, they are seeing a silver lining for their business in 2021. According to Pal, he has only taken orders for 100 big and small idols for Saraswati puja, almost half from the previous year.
“Last year, many idols of Durga went unsold due to the lockdown. I did not take any chances this time and took limited bookings as I wasn’t sure if puja will be allowed. But in the last two weeks, there has been a sudden flow of new orders that I couldn’t accommodate,” he said, ruing that he suffered losses to the tune of Rs 10 lakh last year.
Karmarkar said their business would have improved further if coaching centres were open. “Most of my clientele are coaching centres, but they are still not open. All my orders this time came from residential schools,” he said.