Getting ready for Durga Puja


Artisans have started work on statues of Goddess Durga, her allies and sundry demons at Chittaranjan Park in New Delhi. Durga Puja falls in mid-October this year.


The artisans are yet to start major work such as applying the base paint and chiselling fine lines to give proper features to the statues. The final coat of paint is usually applied two weeks before Puja starts. This helps the colours retain freshness.

The workers, all natives of West Bengal, come to Chittaranjan Park some three months before Puja every year. They spend most part of the first month taking stock of material. On the second month they start moulding the statues and making figures out of straws. The third month is the busiest as that is when pandals or fairgrounds get ready to receive the statues.    

The CR Park artisans eat and sleep at their makeshift workshop set up on a piece of land about the size of a tennis court, given by the local Puja organizers.























Part-I of a three-part series. See Part-II and Part-III.

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