Every time I walked pass through Kumartuli Sarbojonin Durga Puja and take the narrow lane to reach Kumartuli Park. I come across the workshop of the local artist and seeing the preparation of Lakshmi idol. It had always created an interest in my mind to visit the Kumartuli workshop and see the making of the Durga idols but was not able to do it until then.
On My Way To Kumartuli
I got down from the metro at Shobhabazaar railway station. I took out my phone and opened the reliable google map. Without asking anyone, I kept following its instruction & continued my walk to reach Kumartuli artisans workshop. It was evening and I can see lots of other people are clicking pictures of those beautiful semi-finished idols, So without wasting much time I took out my camera and started taking pictures.
But then I was called by a man and was asked whether I have the ticket to take photos. I was unaware of this fact. So they ask me to buy the ticket and I bought the ticket for Rs 10 Although they insisted me on buying the season pass for Rs 50. After clicking few pictures I came to know that there are two groups. Each group has a certain number of workshops. After paying this I continued my clicking. The lanes are narrow and the workshops are quite darker perhaps that gives Photographers a much better effect.
As my visit was quite early that is before Ganesh Chaturthi there were also lots of Ganesha idol getting the finishing touch.
I became sure then that I was too early to see a painted Durga. So, I waited for a month before my next visit and this time it was just before Puja. I was successful in seeing some painted idols and was also lucky enough to see some idol’s eyes getting their finishing touch, which was the major attraction for the photographers.
An Awesome Experience
You can see artists mixing mud, giving it a shape using straws and ropes and finally the colour to create a lively image of the warrior mother Goddess. The idol is then taken away through this narrow lane into the Puja pandals. So any photography lover visiting Kolkata should visit it.
