It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of people all over the world in every possible manner.

Akin to the different other sectors hit by the pandemic and the lockdown, Bengal’s biggest festival of Durga Puja also stares at a huge setback this year. While puja organisers are certain that they will be holding “low key” pujas this year without the grandeur that is usually associated with the same, Kumartuli (the artisans’ hub) in Siliguri, which would generally be a busy place to visit time of the year, has been left high and dry, with only a couple of them now working on unfinished sculptures that could not be completed because of the lockdown.

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“In normal times, for the traditional pujas, we generally start getting orders from Pahila Baisakh (Bengali New Year) itself in midApril. We used to get the last ones by the Rath festival (towards the end of June). We usually get around 450 to 500 orders for Durga idols in Kumartuli. Usually, we receive orders from Sikkim, Darjeeling Hills, Jalpaiguri and Siliguri. We also send the idols to Assam and Bihar. The farthest place to which these are dispatched is Meghalaya in the Northeast. But this time, forget the outsiders, there has not even been local orders yet,” Adhir Paul, the president of the Siliguri Misilpo Unnayan Samity (Kumartuli) says.

Carving eyes onto some tiny heads, the 65-year-old artist adds, “I have been working here since I was in the third standard. It is our ancestral profession. We are into this work for generations now. We have about 350 artisans in Kumartuli. Some work with the hay, a couple of them refine the clay, a few are skilled in working with bamboos, while others are painters.”

According to another artist, 56- year-old, Sudir Paul, he has been in this business for 40 years.

“I do not have any idea on how we are supposed to fend ourselves given the current situation. We would have some 30 percent of the orders in our hands by this time. We would have received the orders for huge idols, renowned clubs would come, place their orders, provide us with the photos and designs they wanted, but this time this is not happening. Circumstances are not in our favour,” he says.

On the other hand, puja-organising committees are in a dilemma they had never faced before. Joint secretary of the Sangasree Puja Committee at Subhas Pally in Siliguri, Rana Roy, said they used to finalise the themes and budget for the Puja by April or May every year.

“However, owing to the virus and the lockdown, nothing has been decided yet this year. We had certain ideas in our minds in January and February and we were in talks with our theme-makers. But nothing happened after that because of the coronavirus outbreak. We do not think we will be able to conduct a big-budget puja this year. Sponsorship is prerequisite for big-budget pujas, which may not be possible this year. However, we will try to hold a traditional puja in a small way,” Mr Roy added.

“That is the plan so far, and the rest depends on the situation. Three to four months still remain for the puja in October, but we have already decided that it will not be on a big-budget Puja,” he said.

Speaking on the same lines, Partho Saha, a member of the Subrata Sangha executive committee, which organized the Puja at Deshbandhu Para every year, said there is no question of organising the puja on a large-scale this year.

“By now, we should have made all the contacts. We have not taken any decision yet. The (puja committee) club has remained closed since the lockdown started. Usually, we start our pandal preparations by the end of July. It takes us three months–July, August and September–to complete it. We will be doing a medium sized puja this year,” he said.

Babul Pal Chowdhury, the secretary of the Dada Bhai Sporting Club of Deshbandhu Para said, “The club has been closed for three months, so no meetings have been held. However, we have discussed things and have arrived on a decision to organise an open puja this year with no indoor pandal.”

“Nevertheless, this time we have decided to distribute garments to 1000-1500 people in the least. Every year, we distribute those among 200 to 400 needy people, but this time we will be giving out to a larger number of people. In the previous years, we used to distribute the offerings (prasad) only for one day. We are also changing that this year and making it four days. In normal years, we start preparing for our pandals in June. Some 10-12 artists come from Kolkata and start working on them, but that hasn’t happened this time around,” Mr Chowdhury added.