NEW DELHI: Sunita waited throughout the day, waiting anxiously for a customer to turn up to buy one of the Ganpati idols that she has painted and readied to sell for the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
But, till evening she was not able to sell a single one. Even though the festival will be observed in a full-fledged manner for the first time after two years of lockdown due to Covid-19, artisans said that business is slow even this time around.
Hoping for the business to pick up by the end of this month, artisans in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar said that the bigger idols may get sold as these are transported in trucks. “A few days back we were as excited about the festival but now there is little hope since sales have been minimal so far with just two days left for the celebrations to begin. It’s not the same as it was two years back. We hardly get to sell an idol for a decent amount,” said Sunita, who comes from a family of artisans, engaged in idol-making for decades.
She added that they cannot store the idols with them for next year as they get damaged and the paint starts to fade. “There is no option but to immerse these unsold idols in the river Yamuna itself, with this our hard work also goes in the river,” said Sunita.
Nisha, another worker, said, “We make the idols only from mud and don’t use any artificial items. These are completely eco-friendly. It takes a lot of effort to put this together, but if these are not sold, it causes us a huge loss.”
Ganesh Chaturthi is a 10-day long festival. This year it will be observed between August 31 and September 9, when the idols will finally be immersed in water. Over the last few years, the government banned idol immersion in the Yamuna and asked residents to create artificial ponds for the same.
Lalita Rajput, who paints the idols, said that the market is going down, but they are in hope that things might get better in the coming days.