Delhi and Kolkata: Two Cities Apart, Mahalaya Traditions Remain The Same
The Quint visited the famous idol makers of Kolkata’s Kumartuli and some idol makers in Delhi.
Delhi: Completed Ma Durga idols waiting to be shipped.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
As the countdown for Durga Pujo begins on the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya, people are thronging to idol makers to take Ma Durga home.
Trucks full of people line-up in the streets, and people have to carry the deities on their shoulders from the alleyways where they are sculpted to the streets where the trucks are parked.
An idol ready to be painted.
Commotion in one of the studios in Kolkata.
The Devi's eye about to be painted aka 'Chokkhu Daan'.
Mahalaya is the day that the idol makers paint the eyes of Ma Durga, a sign of the completion of the idol.
People offer prayers to their ancestors, with holy water and sesame seed. It is a vedic practice termed 'Tarpana'.
An idol maker takes rest in front of an idol, after work.
'Tarpana' aka worshipping the ancestors.
A queue of people offfering prayer.
A finished idol being carried out of the studio.
A priest recites mantras during the 'Tarpana'.
The Quint visited the famous idol makers of Kolkata’s Kumartuli and some idol makers in Delhi to document how they spent their Mahalaya.Two cities apart, some traditions remain the same.
'Tarpana' being performed in an enclosed area in Delhi.
Two idol makers in conversation in a studio.
A finished idol ready to be sent to the pandal.
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