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.
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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.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Commotion in one of the studios in Kolkata.
(Photo: Debayan Dutta/The Quint)
The Devi's eye about to be painted aka 'Chokkhu Daan'.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
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.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
'Tarpana' aka worshipping the ancestors.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
A queue of people offfering prayer.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
A finished idol being carried out of the studio.
(Photo: Debayan Dutta/The Quint)
A priest recites mantras during the 'Tarpana'.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
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.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
Two idol makers in conversation in a studio.
(Photo: Debayan Dutta/The Quint)
A finished idol ready to be sent to the pandal.
(Photo: Ribhu Chatterjee/The Quint)
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