KOLKATA: On Kalighat Road adjacent Harish Chatterjee Street the place chief minister Mamata Banerjee resides, a brawny Bajrangbali has upstaged the dainty Basanti and Annapurna this yr. On the eve of Hanuman Jayanti, sculptors at Kalighat Patuapara or sculptor’s colony have been busy painting Bajrangbali idols in numerous postures — kneeling on one knee, standing proud or seated regally — and sundry dimensions (3ft to 12feet) on Friday. The naked torso with sculpted muscle mass have been all painted saffron.
Around this time of the yr, the clay sculptors are in most cases busy with traditional idols of Basanti and Annapurna. But this yr, they are busy executing orders of latest Bajrangbali idols whilst the semi-finished bamboo and straw constructions of traditional Annapurna and Basanti idols have been relegated to the rear in street-side studios that line both flank of Kalighat Road.
Orders for Bajrangbali first trickled in around four years ago, taking the idol-makers at Kumartuli in north Kolkata and Kalighat’s Patuapara in south via surprise.
“There have been a few Bajrangbali temples within the town however Hanuman Jayanti used to be not relatively a community pageant in Kolkata. So when an order came closing yr, it used to be a nice surprise. Since we did not have any prior wisdom of creating Hanuman idols, those who positioned orders supplied an image downloaded from the web. I made the idol accordingly,” recounted sculptor Nepal Chitrakar.
This yr, Chitrakar received orders for three Bajrangbali idols, one of 4ft and two others of 7ft. Not simply him, a minimum of a dozen sculptors have received orders for a couple of idols, every fetching the rest between Rs 6,500 and Rs 25,000.
“Bajrangbali is changing into a phenomenon. It used to be a popular god around the Hindi belt however in Kolkata, its worship used to be limited to a few temples dedicated to Hanumanji. Now even local clubs in predominantly non-Bengali localities are celebrating Hanuman Jayanti in a major way,” stated sculptor Pradip Rudra Pal. “There is no doubt a political color to what’s going down. Since the autumn of the Communist government, the number of fairs has long gone up. There are more Sitala pujas in localities. The number of Kali pujas has additionally long gone up. After 2014, a few fairs like Ganesh Chaturthi, Sherawali and Hanuman Jayanti that have been low key have received prominence,” he remarked.
Around this time of the yr, the clay sculptors are in most cases busy with traditional idols of Basanti and Annapurna. But this yr, they are busy executing orders of latest Bajrangbali idols whilst the semi-finished bamboo and straw constructions of traditional Annapurna and Basanti idols have been relegated to the rear in street-side studios that line both flank of Kalighat Road.
Orders for Bajrangbali first trickled in around four years ago, taking the idol-makers at Kumartuli in north Kolkata and Kalighat’s Patuapara in south via surprise.
“There have been a few Bajrangbali temples within the town however Hanuman Jayanti used to be not relatively a community pageant in Kolkata. So when an order came closing yr, it used to be a nice surprise. Since we did not have any prior wisdom of creating Hanuman idols, those who positioned orders supplied an image downloaded from the web. I made the idol accordingly,” recounted sculptor Nepal Chitrakar.
This yr, Chitrakar received orders for three Bajrangbali idols, one of 4ft and two others of 7ft. Not simply him, a minimum of a dozen sculptors have received orders for a couple of idols, every fetching the rest between Rs 6,500 and Rs 25,000.
“Bajrangbali is changing into a phenomenon. It used to be a popular god around the Hindi belt however in Kolkata, its worship used to be limited to a few temples dedicated to Hanumanji. Now even local clubs in predominantly non-Bengali localities are celebrating Hanuman Jayanti in a major way,” stated sculptor Pradip Rudra Pal. “There is no doubt a political color to what’s going down. Since the autumn of the Communist government, the number of fairs has long gone up. There are more Sitala pujas in localities. The number of Kali pujas has additionally long gone up. After 2014, a few fairs like Ganesh Chaturthi, Sherawali and Hanuman Jayanti that have been low key have received prominence,” he remarked.
Surge in demand for Bajrangbali idols ahead of Hanuman Jayanti
![Surge in demand for Bajrangbali idols ahead of Hanuman Jayanti]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
March 31, 2018
Rating:
