Kumartuli sees organisers line up a day after Ratha Yatra
Kolkata: Kumartuli witnessed a good turnout of Durga Puja organisers on the first Sunday after Ratha Yatra, to place order for idols.
The day of Ratha Yatra is considered auspicious by Durga Puja organisers and
they start visiting Kumartuli from the day to place orders for idols.
Even for many Puja organisers, it is a tradition to place orders for idols on the day of Ratha Yatra.
Both on the day of Ratha Yatra and Sunday, many Puja organisers visited Kumartuli and placed their orders following detailed discussions with artists.
Kartik Pal, secretary of the Kumartuli Mrit Shilpi Samity, said: "The response is good as many Puja organisers have turned up at Kumartuli and placed orders on both Saturday and Sunday. More Puja organisers will be visiting in the next few weekends."
Pal said that there are around 600 artists in Kumartuli and almost all have received some orders so far. "Some received order to make two to three idols while some got ten to twelve. But almost all have received orders and they will be receiving more."
While talking about the budget of Puja organisers, Pal said: "Most Puja organisers are trying to stick to the budget for the idols as that of last year. In some cases, there was a marginal increase of around Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000."
"The cost of raw material and daily wages of artists have gone up. It will also result in an increase in the production cost," Pal added.
Durga Puja will be starting from October 16 (Saptami) this year. But in the past few years, it was found that Puja organisers prefer to take idols to their respective mandaps at least seven to eight days ahead. So the artists have already started making idols of Goddess Durga and her entourage.
Khuti Puja, which marks the beginning of the setting up of the Puja mandap, took place on the day of Ratha
Yatra. On Sunday, Khuti Puja took place at various places, including Chetla Alapi Club, where the state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim was present.
Trinamool Congress President Subrata Bakshi and Debashis Kumar, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Parks and Gardens), were present at the Khuti Puja of Deshapriya Park Sarbojonin Durgotsav.
