Durga's 1st foreign trip was to Hamburg, in mid-1970s

She gave him an offer that he couldn’t refuse. A sweet tale was unboxed sometime in the mid-1970s when Uma Nag, daughter of Calcutta’s one of the most-accomplished sweet makers, approached Kumortuli’s most aplomb sculptor to make her a Durga idol that she'd fly to her in-laws’ town, in Hamburg. 

The time that Bhim Nag's daughter had allowed Amar Nath Ghosh was only seven days. The visioned piece of art had to be cut out at warp’s speed. The artisan thought to make the idol with Shola. The 3.5-foot structure now proudly stands at the Rhein-Main Anthropological Museum in Frankfurt. Married to the KC Das family, another Calcutta-based sweet master, Uma’s delight knew no bounds.

“The white Durga idol wasn't just a Shola idol. It was our only task for the week. We could not make idols of Durga's sons and daughters. The structure didn't even have Mahishasura. Uma called it Mahishasur Mardini,” Amar Nath said in a muffled voice.

The artisan, who started practising this art around 40 years ago, has kindled this gift in his son, Kaushik. The junior artist is in his mid-forties and is the 4th generation in the family to be doing the trade, But, many say, he has walked a step ahead of his ancestor. He is also passionate about making idols with fibre. “The idols vary in size, from 2.5 ft to 9 ft. We fold them before loading them on the flights. We usually send them to places like Stockholm, Lagos and Rome. A hard platform at the back creates a solid base and connects the top and lower halves of the devi murti,” the junior Ghosh said.

“Pre-season orders come between January and March. It takes around 20 to 25 days to make the idols. However, the preparation requires a well-trimmed calculation,” he said.

Asked about the obsession with theme-Pujas in Bengal, he said, “Their taste is as different as chalk and cheese from the local orders. They recognise the Durga as white and in a simple daaker shaaj.” Kaushik, who dedicates his learning of the art of painting idols to his dad, said, “A layer of gum or locally-made sticky material is applied on a skin-thick cover that wraps the idol. My father used plastic watercolours on the idols. However, for the fibre idols, I use the wall paints.”

“There has been a spike in demand for fibre idols over last few years. The colours don't fade on the fibre. I use a light cloth to wrap the murti. It permanently holds the colour,” he said. 

“We usually send around 26 to 28 idols across the globe every year. The foreign clientele mostly come from Stockholm, London, Rome, Paris, New York and the list is endless,” Kaushik, who also attended the NABC 2016 programme at Madison Square Garden, New York, said.