Idol makers from West Bengal come to Kochi to make idols of Durga and her family during Durga Puja

From the surface, Lovely Nursery in Kadavanthra, Kochi, appears like simply one other plant nursery with its neat rows of greens and flowers. But the motion is on the far finish of the nursery, beneath a makeshift shed coated by blue tarpaulin. Tapan Kumar Jena, a septuagenarian idol-maker from Digha in West Bengal, is shaping and fixing fingers of the idols of Durga there. The six idols await their ‘fingers’, that are stacked on the ground. Tapan’s spouse, Suchitra, arms him the fingers which he then shapes and attaches to the stumps. The sight is surreal, these eerily white, naked varieties will remodel into the revered divine, in a pair of days, when they’re painted, adorned and their saris draped.  

Near the stacked fingers is a half-open bundle of easy, dough-like clay and the mould used to make the fingers. “That is ‘Ganga Maati’ from the Ganga which is used to make the idols. The soil here is not suitable for it, it just doesn’t come together. We do use local clay (piling leftovers) but not too much,” Tapan says. 

He has been coming to Kerala for the previous 20-odd years, normally together with his two brothers and their wives. Suchitra’s brother is Uttam Sahu, who owns the nursery. Uttam is the rationale Tapan first got here to Kochi. “I think it was 2004 when I organised a Kali Puja here at the nursery. I asked Tapanda to come over to make the idol of Kali. That is how his tryst with making idols in Kerala started,” says Uttam, a gardener, who has been in Kochi since 1999. 

The group of six stays at Uttam’s home close by. Tapan is one of the various idol makers from Bengal who journey to different States because the Puja season approaches. 

Making Gods all 12 months

“They are busy all round the year,” jokes Uttam. Bookings have to be made at the very least 4 months upfront. “We had to refuse two orders – one from Kochi and the other from IIM Kozhikode because we will not be able to make them on time and deliver it,” Tapan says.  

This 12 months, Tapan and family arrived in Kerala on September 2. Over the previous 20 days that they’ve been right here, they’ve 40-odd idols. They had been additionally in Thiruvananthapuram making idols, “making one takes 10-12 days,” Tapan explains. Two idols headed for Kozhikode are among the many ones being made at Lovely Nursery. They left Digha in July, heading to Punjab to begin this 12 months’s spherical of making idols for Bengali and North Indian Associations.

Continuous work

It has been hectic since they acquired right here, working by means of the day to get the idols prepared by September 27, earlier than the Durga Puja observances start in full earnest. The idol makers, nonetheless, seldom make it dwelling in time for the festivities. “It has been years since we have been home for Puja. In fact, we make the idols for Kali Puja before we set off so that when we return, it is usually closer to Diwali, we don’t have to worry about it,” Tapan says.    

Although they make idols of Durga and Kali, this time they made a Sheranwali (Vaishno Devi) for the North Indian Association at…Some of the idols are a single piece with all of the idols mounted on a single base and there are others the place every idol that completes a scene is made individually and positioned collectively.

Tapan explains the method of making the idols which, on the finish of Puja celebrations, are submerged in water. “First we make the outline shape out of bamboo which we then ‘fill out’ with hay which we cover with clay, shaping it. There are moulds for faces and extremities. Back home, I don’t use Plaster of Paris (PoP), I don’t like the feel of it, but I am forced to here because the clay will not hold. I apply a thin coat of PoP, to even out the texture of hay and smoothness. I will then sandpaper it, apply putty and it is ready to be painted.” Uttam lifts the idols to present how mild they’re. 

Family commerce of making idols

While they paint the idols, adorn it with jewelry made of color paper by the womenfolk and drape the sari, generally the organisers present the sari. The designs/fashions are finalised over WhatsApp because the makers ship samples, or potential clients ship their specs. “I either refer to the photos or make them from memory.” The value of the idols will depend on the scale, ranging from ₹40,000-₹1,00,000. 

Tapan has been making idols for the previous 45 years, his father was additionally an idol maker. “I tried to get a government job, I even made it to the shortlist but did not get the job. That is how I joined my father, after all it is something that I have seen growing up…it is in the genes!”

Published – September 28, 2025 07:32 pm IST