A touch of Bengal in Chennai

CHENNAI: The auditorium is abuzz withactivity. A few men decorate the entrance with flowers while others put upsignboards. Amidst all the commotion, a group of four men work in utterconcentration, oblivious to the din as they paint the eyes of goddess Lakshmi,their eyes moving back and forth from the idol to the palate of colours.Jiban Krishna Pal and his team of sculptors have been coming from Hooghly in West Bengal to Chennai every year since 1994 to make idols for Durga puja. "An acquaintance of mine referred me to the Bengal Association here," says Jiban, who is busy at the Bengal Association office in T Nagar. "And I have been every year since then."For three months every year, Chennai is hometo sculptors like Jiban, who are brought down by the Bengali community in thecity. "These idols have to meet a certain quality and we want them to lookauthentic," says Dr Anjan Chakraborty, president of theassociation."Durga's idol can't be made with any mati (clay). Youneed Ganga's mati or else it will crack," says Jiban, adding that they bring 20to 25 bags of clay every year to fashion the idols. "Clay, paint, hair, clotheseverything is brought all the way from Kolkata," he says. Not faraway, Rinku and Deven Pal, idol-makers from Baghda in West Bengal, are hard atwork. "Our father Kishori Mohan Pal first came to Chennai 30 years ago and weare continuing the tradition," says Deven. "We were not ready to take on thisorder but the association members insisted and we have just a day to finish it,"he adds, before he goes back to shaping the fingers of thegoddess.Making an idol takes about 15 days. "We start by shaping theidols with bamboo sticks and hay. Then they are given a coating of clay and leftto dry. A coat of clay is applied after a day or two," saysJiban.According to him, this is the trickiest part. "Only if theshape is flawless, we coat it with plaster of paris," he says. "And we pay greatattention to all the facial features eyes, cheeks and nose to ensure they areperfect," he adds. Then the idols are painted."Every goddess has adifferent colour. Kali can be only blue while Durga is always painted pink.Similarly, we have colours for Ganesh, Lakshmi and Saraswati," says Rinku. Allthese paints and dyes are made by the sculptors. "After all, it is for thegoddess and her family," they say, with reverence.The demand foridols has gone up in the last five years. "In 1994, the demand was only for afew idols. This year, I have made 30," says Jiban, whose idols are supplied toKalpakkam, Kolathur and Tiruchi. "My father has gone to Coimbatore. He'll alsogo to Vellore and Tiruchi as the Bengali community has personally invited himthere," says Rinku. Apart from the money they make, working on theidols is also a matter of great pride for these artisans. "When I first camehere in 1994, I was learning to sculpt. Then there was the excitement andadrenaline rush in making the best idols," says Jiban. "Now I am so sure of mystrokes that I can paint the goddess' eyes with my eyes closed."Oncethe Durga idols are moved out of their sheds and into the various pandals acrossthe city, these men are forgotten. But the goddess comes again next year and sodo the artisans.