With Saraswati Puja (also called Vasant Pancami) around the corner, images of the Hindu Goddess Saraswati, patroness of the Arts, are in high demand for community prayers. Seema Kumari visited the idol makers of Patna, Bihar.

They bring her to life every spring, on the fifth day of Vasant. The puja is incomplete without a life-like image of the deity. These humble sculptors are the ones who bring the goddess to life.

Thirty five year old Raj Kumar is a clay-sculptor who makes idols on a pavement near Kurji More, Patna. Along with his brother he has made 34 Saraswati idols in 3 months. He said that as Vasant Panchami was just a day away, they would have to toil day and night to build an idol of top-notch quality. They usually start their work from 8 o’ clock in the morning and work till 1 o’clock at night.  

Talking about the several steps of idol making, he said “We have to first imagine the end-result of our labour and start the work: What the goddess will look like, the size and the design. We begin with building a frame (the skeletal structure) with the bamboo stick and jute. Next, we cover it with straw and add mud to get the desired shape. The process is gradual because several layers of mud and clay are added before the structure is carved. Next, we go for the face and the fingers. The final step, is painting the idols, followed by putting up hairs and decorating them up with accessories.

Raj Kumar’s Brother Ranjan Kumar, boy aged 26 said “Every year we try to create some new designs. Sometimes we also create design that our customer orders and sometimes we also get new ideas from the other artists but while copying the other artists we also include some of our ideas. This time we have created lots of new designs which cost from Rs 2000 to Rs 12,000. The idols which are created on orders are more costly than the other ones”.  

Dharam Pal, aged 32 has been making idols from the year 2000. He came from Bardhawan to Patna (Rajapul) for making Goddess Saraswati’s idol. In his family he is the only one who was interested in clay sculpture from his childhood. After leaving his studies he started making idols and later adopted it as his profession.

From the past two months (the time he came to Patna) he has been living in a tent house with his 2 other companions Mahesh Pandit (70) and Priyaranjan Raj (25). Together they have created more than 75 idols of Goddess Saraswati.

Priyaranjan Raj said “We start work in the morning, around 8, and go on till about 5 in the evening. Right now, we have a deadline to meet, so after a short break, we start again in the evening. There’s no fixed schedule, and work could go on till 1 am.”

“For making the idol the mud is sourced from fields, but for the goddess’ face, we bring mud from River Ganga; we have to make the face and the fingers very carefully. It has to look smooth” he added.

Mahesh Pandit the other companion of Dharam Pal said Idol making have always been a family business for me. It is a skill being passed through the generations.  My grandfather was in this business of sculpting deities, so were my father and uncles. Now, I have taken it up as well. I am not sure if my son would be interested; he is still studying.

Talking about the rates of the idols he said “What we charge depends on various factors the kind of idol, the size of the idol, the decoration, etc. This time the minimum rate of an idol is Rs 1000 and maximum rate is Rs 4000.”

  festival, livelihood, Patna, Vasant Panchami