GUWAHATI: A 100-ft tall bamboo idol of Durga is set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest bamboo sculpture ever made.
The gigantic structure is the brainchild of the Bishnupur Durga Puja Committee, which innovates on Durga pandals every years.
The four-day Durga Puja celebrations will begin on September 27.
Assisted by 40 artisans, Guwahati-based art director Nuruddin Ahmed (59) is designing the structure, work on which began on August 1.
“We are hoping to finish the work by September 20. This will be the world’s tallest bamboo sculpture. The previous tallest Durga idol was erected in Kolkata last year. The 83 feet structure was made of fibre and erected on an iron structure,” Ahmed told New Indian Express.
He said some 4,000 bamboo poles of various kinds have already been used in the making of the idol in Guwahati. Another 1,000-2,000 bamboos would be required. The work will entail an expenditure of around Rs.11 lakh to Rs.12 lakh. The platform, on which the structure is being erected, is 20 feet wide and 63 feet long. Combined with the platform, the structure will be 110 feet tall, he said.
“We have already done the registration with the Guinness Book of World Records, which is sending a team to Guwahati after September 20 to examine the structure. We are confident that the team will declare it as the tallest bamboo structure in the world,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed has erected over 200 Durga Puja pandals over the last 42 years. The first pandal that he erected was in 1975 at North Lakhimpur in northern Assam. Ahmed views his art work as a service to humanity.
“I love and respect all religions. I never had to face any criticism from any quarter for what I have been doing all these years. And why should there be any? I am sure the critics are not going to take care of the families of those who work with me and earn a living,” Ahmed, who has worked as art director of scores of Assamese films, said.