Kolkata, India: Tapas Pal has been making clay idols of various gods and goddesses for the past 20 years in Kumartuli, a traditional potter center in Kolkata, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
The 42-year-old, who creates six-metre-high idols from unbaked clay, told Al Jazeera that he would not normally have any free time in the two months leading up to Durga Puja, the state’s biggest festival. Because there is a deadline to deliver the idol to the festival organizers.
But this year, he says, the situation is completely different. Orders decreased and the budget was reduced. This is because city residents are in no mood to celebrate after a 31-year-old female doctor was brutally raped and murdered. August 9 at the state-run RG Kar Hospital.
“This festival provides (a) significant portion of our annual business and we expect it to be highly profitable. “But this time, due to the severe protests in the state, there is almost no business,” he said, adding that business has decreased by two-thirds.
Durga Puja is a ten-day celebration of the Hindu goddess Durga, who embodies joy and celebrates victory over the shape-shifting demon. Durga is one of the most powerful goddesses in Hinduism. She represents female power and her legend focuses on her ability to defeat evil. In 2021, Kolkata’s Durga Puja was added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Before the festival begins, artisans spend months creating idols of Durga. The idol of Durga is a beautiful woman riding a lion or tiger, each arm holding a weapon used to destroy evil. Idols, often depicting parts of these battles, are intricately hand-painted, dressed in beautiful clothes, adorned with jewels, and displayed in pandals.
The state government has come to a standstill ahead of the festival, which is scheduled to begin on October 9 this year. Schools and offices are closed, pandal hops take place, a tradition where people visit different places where idols are located, offer prayers and eat prasad, and neighbors compete for the biggest and fanciest idols and decorations.
Last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expected the festival economy to be worth about 840 billion rupees ($10 billion).
However, as people are still in shock after the body of a trainee doctor with multiple injuries was discovered at a government hospital, it is unclear whether the figure will come close to that figure this year as well. Hospital authorities initially told her parents that she had committed suicide. However, an autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and murdered.
Police arrested four people, including Sanjoy Roy, a citizen volunteer at the hospital who had unrestricted access to the ward where the doctor worked, Dr Sandeep Ghosh, former college principal, and a police officer.
The brutality of the crime and the alleged indifference of the state government particularly shocked residents who took to the streets with pride that their city was safe for women.
Activists say the doctor’s rape and murder show how women in India continue to face sexual violence despite stricter laws introduced following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in the capital, New Delhi.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released late last year, crimes against women in India will increase by 4% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
So far, Banerjee’s calls urging people to return to the festival have yielded no results.
Rather, local residents have emotionally united with the victim’s family after the father broke down in a TV interview, saying no one wanted to celebrate the festival this year and he would not celebrate it happily no matter who celebrated.
The grim atmosphere has affected hundreds of artisans and entrepreneurs who depend on the festival for their livelihood.
The business was ‘broken’.
Artisans say the incident could not have happened at a worse time as several organizers place orders for idols in the second and third weeks of August every year and then scale back or stop them altogether.
“This incident is unfortunate and reprehensible. We demand severe punishment for the perpetrator and just punishment for the victim’s family. But the timing did not coincide with the peak season which completely ruined our business this year,” Subhendu Pal, 52, an idol maker from Kumartuli, told Al Jazeera.
Suvendu Forel, 35, who makes decorative polystyrene products for pandals, said business had dropped by more than half.
“There is very little enthusiasm among people for the festival. We usually travel out of state this season to make decorative items because they are in high demand. But this time, people from other states did not come to work with us for fear that the law and order situation here would worsen. It seems like this year’s festival is just a formality,” Porel said.
Prabhakar Porel, 32, an artisan who designs the bamboo structures used to support pandals, said: “We are making tents as high as 60 feet (18 meters), but the organizers are reducing the order to 30 feet (9 meters). ) And this time it’s even less because budget constraints are the issue. Sponsors are not willing to spend their whole lives feeling the gloomy mood of the state,” he said.
State grant denied
In West Bengal, around 43,000 Durga Pujas are held in community clubs every year, of which 3,000 are held in Kolkata alone. The state government provides the club with 70,000 rupees ($840) every year to organize the festival, which this year rose to 85,000 rupees ($1,013).
However, some clubs, shaken by the incident, refused the subsidy, which consequently limited their ability to spend.
In addition to state subsidies, a significant portion of festival costs are borne by sponsors such as local and national businesses in return for brand promotion. Depending on the amount of funds pledged, organizers such as clubs commission idols, decorations, food stalls, among other things. A weak turnout at the festival may force some of them to hold off or reduce their commitments.
Avishek Bhattacharyya, executive member of the Durgotsab Forum, an umbrella body of more than 600 festival organizers in the state, told Al Jazeera that a boycott would be disastrous for the festival.
“Discussions with sponsors… This is done months in advance. There is no room for rollbacks as organizers determine the budget based on pledged sponsorship. However, if (the sponsor) withdraws now, it will be a big problem for the organizer to pay off the fees of idol makers, decorators, and other related parties. Some people will lose their livelihoods,” Bhattacharyya warned.
Mahalaya Chatterjee, a professor of economics at the University of Calcutta, acknowledged that the festival could be hit hard by the protests. “No doubt bulk shopping will be reduced to a minimum and this will be a huge economic blow to those involved in the business. (If) the festival deteriorates, food stalls and other travel arrangements during the festival will be affected,” she said.
Absence of shoppers
The aftermath of the protests is clearly visible even in Kolkata shopping zones where there are no customers.
“A month before the festival, people start buying clothes and other items to avoid last-minute rush. The store is full of customers and there is nowhere to step. Sales generate huge income for merchants. But the RG Kar incident has devastated us economically,” said Maqsood Khan, secretary of the Shreeram Arcade Shop Owners Association, which has around 250 shops in the market.
“There are virtually no buyers on the streets and shopkeepers have to wait until evening hours for their first sale of the day,” Khan lamented.
The shopping center extended its closing time by an hour to 10 p.m., but there are still no customers. “The situation is worse than post-Covid when restrictions due to the pandemic were reduced and sales began,” he said, adding that losses could amount to up to 100 million rupees ($1.2 million).
Every year, Durga Puja attracts tourists from different parts of India and abroad. It was also a hit this year.
Koushik Banerjee, founder of Kolkata-based Supreme Tours and Travels, told Al Jazeera that the number of tourists coming to Kolkata is falling sharply. “There has already been a 50% decline in inbound tourist numbers, which is having a serious impact on our business,” he said.
This is hitting the hospitality industry hard, which has already seen a 15% drop in sales so far. “Our member restaurants did around 18 billion rupees ($215 million) of business across West Bengal during the festive month last year. The hotel sector also saw business volume of around 15 billion rupees ($179 million). But this year there is uncertainty,” said Sudesh Poddar, president, Eastern India Hotels and Restaurants Association.
Idol maker Pal feels the damage has been significant, and the festival is unlikely to generate much enthusiasm. “The younger generation is actively participating in the festival, but everyone is busy protesting and not in the mood to post happy photos on social media. In the past, people used to come to Kumartuli to take pictures every year during the idol production, but this time no one came, which shows the sad atmosphere of the city. “The festival will pass quietly,” he said.
