Idols for the World

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Idols for the world

 

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/09/24/stories/2006092400160200.htm

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http://tinyurl.com/zw73r

 

By ANTARA DAS

9/24/06

 

Ranjit Sarkar is one of the 500 artisans in Kumartuli,

Kolkata, whose idols are exported to countries around the

world during the Puja season.

 

Images sculpted by him have travelled even to places such

as Abu Dhabi, where the worship of idols is considered

blasphemous. "They took them as dolls," says Ranjit Sarkar,

the artist, nonchalantly; but look closer and you can catch a

glimpse of the image-maker as an artist, whose obvious

pride is in his work and not necessarily in the religious

significance associated with it.

 

As of now, Ranjit Sarkar, who is in his forties, is breathing a

little easy, for, he has just sent consignments of Durga

images, made of pith, across to New Jersey in the United

States and to Italy.

 

He is one of the over 500 artisans in Kumartuli, the colony

of idol makers in North Kolkata. It is the artists working

here, in the narrow, winding lanes and beneath the cheap

tarpaulin sheets, who will breathe life into images of Goddess

Durga and her children and set off the rush of celebrations

associated with the festive season.

 

The languid air of a false sense of complacence hangs low

over Shilpalaya, the studio where the images are sculpted.

Sarkar nudges his helpers, who are trying to catch up on

their afternoon siesta amid heaps of trinkets and other

assorted decorations that will be used to adorn the goddess,

for, the deadline for the San Francisco shipment has started

staring them in the face.

 

Around the world

 

"We have exported idols to countries around the world -

to the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Austria as well as some

countries in Eastern Europe; countries in South Asia and all

neighbouring countries except Sri Lanka," he says.

 

The process of making the images begins usually around the

month of May, when the orders also start pouring in. "We

usually export around seven to eight idols per year," Sarkar

says. A significant number, if one keeps in mind that there

are about 50 to 60 artists in Kumartuli who are exporting on

a similar scale.

 

"An idol, once exported, is worshipped for the next seven to

eight years," Sarkar says. "Then they come back to us for a

fresh idol," he adds. He had, for example, sent an eight-foot

high idol to Singapore in 1998, and last year they came back

for a replacement.

 

Sarkar, whose family has been in the business of exporting

pith idols since 1974, tries to make a case about the

usefulness of this medium, especially when it comes to

sending them across such great distances. "Pith is always the

preferred medium for those who organise their pujas abroad,

since it is light, convenient to carry and easy to store for

subsequent use," he says. His tone betrays the anxiety which

necessitates this attempt at explaining and justifying, for, even

he cannot deny that demand for pith images has been nose-

diving since fibreglass images were introduced.

 

"We have already devised models for making fibreglass

images, which is a complex process," he says. "The clay

models have to be prepared, then plastered following which

the fibre is cast," he explains. He is not willing to speculate

about the future of pith images, which, in the absence of

demand in the local market, are surely on their way out.

 

Costs are bound to rise with the introduction of the

expensive fibreglass images, compounded by the heavy cost

of shipment. "Many clients approach us early so that they

can get the idols shipped instead of carrying them by air," he

says. While transporting an idol by air, for example, costs

Rs. 1,20,000 for delivery to Canada, the same is shipped at

a cost of Rs. 55,000.

 

In case the images have to be delivered by air, they must

reach the airport at least 24 hours before the flight is

scheduled. "What they watch out for is the possibility of the

idols catching fire," Sarkar says. The system of packing

adopted is known as the "almirah system", which consists of

the deities being locked inside five-foot-high almirahs, on

their way to grace the altars on foreign shores. "It means that

the images cannot exceed eight feet, if you allow for the

extra three feet being folded before sending it across," he

adds.

 

Constant innovation

 

This limitation on size is amply compensated when he is on

an assignment on home turf. For three consecutive years

from 1996 to 1998, he had worked in Varanasi where he

made Durga idols that were 15 feet high. "The first year, the

images were made of pith; the second year I made them out

of raw jute and the third year they were made of golden,

embossed threads," he says. But the insistence there on

constant innovation led Mr. Sarkar to finally call it a day.

"Ultimately, there is only so much that we know and there

are limits to attempts at improvisation," he adds.

 

It is this attempt to keep pace with the frenetic times that

marks the average day at Kumartuli. Possibilities of a

temporary relocation are in the air, with the Government

planning to transform the place from a dingy, unhygienic

neighbourhood to something cleaner and more orderly.

 

On a personal front, Sarkar has something else to look

forward to. This year, he plans to get an Internet connection

so that he may correspond directly with prospective clients

and thus avoid the scourge of exploitative middlemen. For

those who have already taken the step, profits have shot up.

Amid the darkening gloom of this artists' colony, the Gods

are surely smiling.

 

Source: The Hindu