KHULNA, Sept 16, 2019 (BSS) – Idol makers commonly known as Pauls are
passing their busy days in making idols of Hindu deities ahead of Durga Puja festival in Khulna city and nine upazilas of the district.
The Pauls are working round the clock to make sure that the idols are ready in time with only 17 days left beginning of the Durga Puja.
The Pauls are hoping for better earnings this year as the number of Puja
Mandaps has increased in the region.
Nirmal Chandra Paul, an idol maker of Dharmashova temple of the city
said cost has gone up of the raw materials – clay, rope, straw, bamboo and jute needed to make the idols.
“Five to eight workers is needed for 10-15 days to make a large idol while smaller ones are for around two weeks each to complete,” he added.
Nirmal Paul, who is involved in idol-making profession for over 24 years,
has made 22 idols in the last two months for the current season and has been working for seven more others at present. Taka 40,000 to 60,000 are spent for each of the idols, he said.
He said that about one hundred Paul groups of Khulna are now busy making
idols for Mandaps and they have already completed 80 per cent works for making the idols.
Shymol Singha Roy, a devotee who supervises a Puja Mandap in Sheetalabari temple in Dolkhola area of the city, informed that preparations for the upcoming Durga Puja have become costlier due to high price of the raw materials as well as increased charges of idol makers, purohits and dhakis.
Prashanta Kundu, Khulna city unit general secretary of Puja Udjapon Parishad, told BSS that the Durga Puja will be celebrated in more than 974 Puja mandaps including 129 in Khulna city from October 3 to 8.
Around 400 idol makers are engaged in making idols for Durga Puja in the
city and district.
Decorations of temples, lighting, and setting up of Mandaps are expected to be turned the city into a festive look within the next couple of days,
Prashanta Kundu added.