Rourkela: Come August, and idol-makers from West Bengal flock to the steel city to make a killing ahead of the festive season.
Rourkela becomes the idol-makers’ second home for the later part of the year with back-to-back festivals, according to locals.
Shilpi Mandir, a temporary idol-making workshop in the Steel City, is abuzz with activity where artists from the neighbouring state give shape to their imagination. It is a seven-month-long creative process involving a lot of mud, sweat and blood.
Hundreds of idol-makers from Purulia, Mechheda, Midnapore and Kolkata arrive in the city to make a living out of their craft. They remain here from August to February and infuse life into a range of earthen idols with their expertise.
It is not only about customers of Rourkela or Sundargarh, as people from Rajgangpur, Tensa, Bargaon, Lathikata and a few places of Sambalpur district have a fondness for idols made by the visiting artisans. The products are also much in demand in Simdega and Manoharpur of neighbouring Jharkhand.
The artists, who are growing in numbers every year, have made Rourkela their place of work for the last 20-odd years. While 200 idol makers are already busy in various segments of idol-making, more are on their way to cash in on the growing market in the state.
They work round the clock and don’t leave any stone unturned in coming up with unique, striking designs. After giving final brushstrokes to the idols of Lord Ganesh, they begin taking orders for making idols of Durga, Gajalaxmi, Kali and return home after Saraswati Puja, team members of several groups of artists said.
While the chief idol-makers earn up to `25,000 a month, their associates earn up to `15,000. Babuli, a coordinator of Uditnagar who hires these artists, said the junior artists also manage to earn up to `8,000 a month.
“More than 50 idol makers from West Bengal are working with us this year. Every year, we sell nearly 2,000 Ganesh idols and their price ranges between `10,000 to `1 lakh depending on the demand,” Babuli said.
Govind Mandal, an expert from Midnapore, said he has been in this profession since he was 10 years old. “Now, I make around `800 a day,” he said.
“Making idols is our family occupation. I have been visiting Rourkela since 1983. Besides, I also travel to Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand across the year,” Pran Govind Dutta of Purulia said.
Samal Sutradhar, another artist from Purulia, is an expert in fine works. “We are in great demand for our ability in giving fine details to the idols,” Sutradhar said. PNN