Durga Idol Of “Migrant Worker” Mother To Be Kept In A Museum

This year, the Barisha Club through their idol of “Migrant Worker Goddess” for Durga Puja paid tribute to the labourers who walked barefoot to their villages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plight of migrant workers during lockdown had led to widespread outrage. After getting widespread praise for highlighting the plight of migrant labourers, the idol will now be moved to a city-based museum.

“It is the Chief Minister’s advice. The day she paid a visit to our pandal, she really liked it. She clicked some photographs of the idol on her mobile too. Later we were informed they wanted to preserve the idol,” artiste Rintu Das, who conceptualised the design, told The Indian Express.

According to Telegraph India, the theme highlighted this year’s purpose to celebrate the festival, which is “Tran” (relief). The aim was to depict the pain and suffering the migrant workers endured during the pandemic. Along with her were idols of her two daughters — one with a baby owl (Lakshmi) and the other had a swan (Saraswati) beside her. According to News 18, a fourth idol was installed with the head of an elephant - which symbolised Lord Ganesha.

Check out the pictures of the idol here:

Pallab Bhowmick's Ma Durga for the Pujo this year, as a migrant worker with her children.
Very evocative. pic.twitter.com/aAlJVI9XKO

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) October 16, 2020

Altogether, the mother and her children represented a traditional image of Durga with ten hands. State minister Firhad Hakim said, “It is a great creation and we want to preserve it. For now, it will be kept in a museum in the Lake area.” 

"During the lockdown, all I remember seeing on TV and reading in newspapers was migrant workers returning home on foot... Durga Puja was still months away, but the indomitable spirit of the women walking home with children overwhelmed me. In my mind, they embodied the goddess," Das, who is from Krishnanagar, had said explaining how he imagined the deities.

Inspired by a painting

According to an earlier report by ThePrint, the idol was inspired by the paintings of celebrated artist Bikash Bhattacharya and the main artist Pallab Bhaumik sculpted the idol with the help of a team of five other artists. It took them approx two months to complete the whole idol. Sharing Bhattacharya’s painting along with the idol in a Facebook post, Barisha Club posted:

https://www.facebook.com/BarishaClub/posts/3349604365131114

Read More Stories By Ria Das