By- Godhousol Sharma Lucknow: Model a large pile of durga idols in the middle of a repetitive call from the customer, Ashok Rai has a full hand a few months before Durga Puja every year.
However, Covid changed the fate of craftsmen such as Rai.
Although the pandemic curve has dropped, the modeler, which gives a form of the Festival of Puja, staring at a huge loss for the second year in a row because sales are still low because of the muted celebrations.
Someone used to sell around 500 idols during the celebration of Ganesh and Puja Durga during the pre-covid era.
A craftsman gives a final touch to Goddess Durga Idols however, the number now falls down 50.
Many craftsmen who used to originate from Bengal especially for Puja have missed this year’s visit too.
According to Neeloy Pal, the owner of a 50-year-old Durga workshop in the city, “the work related to Durga idol was used to start from February-March.
This time, it began about two weeks ago.
Last year, the work could be ignored.
Nothing Changed this year too.
“However, PAL slightly optimistic because he made some idols during Ganesh Chaturthi who was unsuccessfully sold.
It gave him the power to produce around 30 to 40 idols for Puja Durga.
“With Devi blessings, many of them are ordered,” he added.
Similarly, Vimal Mitra, another sculptor, said, “Last year, only 15 idols sold.
This time, we got an order again, but not enough to run the family.” Partners also told that the materials used to decorate idols Not yet arrived from Bengal because of restrictions.
“We used to be very busy during these days in pre-covid periods and sold nearly 500 idols every year,” he said.