Guwahati: The upcoming Durga Puja offers plenty of opportunities for people to make good money, and while many have expressed great excitement about visiting various pandals and indulging in traditional cuisine.
Since they sell idols during the festival, many craftsmen benefit greatly from the opportunity to do business; nonetheless, the past two years have not been particularly successful for them. Due to COVID-19 regulations, processions could not be held on the typical scale, which led to two years of unsuccessful business for the artisans.
The number of people visiting pandals is predicted to be extremely high this year, which will inevitably lead to greater and better orders for the idols and the craftspeople that make them.
Guwahati is equally as extravagant as Kolkata when it comes to Puja celebrations and huge galas. During the Durga Puja, the entire city is engulfed in an atmosphere of joy and festivity.
A Guwahati-based artisan was interviewed by ANI to get an update on the state of his or her company this year. And as was to be expected, he disclosed that this year’s demand for idols is far more than it was for the previous two.
In order to gain a better understanding of the figures, we asked him how many orders he has so far received. He enthusiastically responded that he has received “around 25-26” orders and that he is quite excited that the grand Durga Puja celebration is back and is once more proving to be a good opportunity for them to make money.
Guwahati craftsmen who make idols petitioned the state government to release Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prior to Durga Puja, Vishwakarma Day and last year in order to offer them a thorough understanding of the festival celebrations.
The artisans then said that the uncertainty surrounding festival festivities had hurt their industry because they were unable to prepare numerous idols and were forced to focus mostly on smaller idols owing to a shortage of orders.
However, now that the city is prepared to immerse itself in the great spirit of celebrations during Puja this year, it’s a welcome break for those working day and night to make a little money out of it, especially the idol craftspeople that wait for significant festivals like this to start their business.