KENDRAPARA: Approximately 100 families involved in making and selling musical instruments, and band party owners in Kendrapara district are immersed in a flurry of activity, fulfilling the high demand from puja organisers for the immersion processions of Ma Durga, Ma Kali, and Ma Laxmi during the puja season that just began.
The puja season is a crucial season for these artisans, and many of them have been spending sleepless nights for the past two months, crafting a variety of musical instruments needed for the festive season. For most musical instrument makers, there is barely a moment to catch their breath. Men, women, and children are all involved in crafting instruments like dhola, mrudang, flutes, and more.
Manas Das, a musical instrument maker from Gopa village, described this tradition, saying, “It has now become a family tradition to make traditional musical instruments during the puja season. It adds to the family income. We cannot afford to neglect it.”In addition to the instrument makers, around 50 band party members in the district are busy rehearsing various Bollywood songs with music to meet the extensive requirements of the puja committees.
Ajaya Patra, the owner of Baladevjew Band Party in Garapur, said, “We are optimistic because we can soon cater to the best music, thanks to a potentially lucrative market in many parts of the state during the puja season. DJ and other high-decibel audio systems are a significant source of noise pollution, for which the district administration has banned sound systems during the puja. As a result, many puja committees are now preferring traditional band parties.”
The puja season is the only time of the year when these people boost their income, aside from the wedding season. They charge Rs 50,000 for performing during the deity immersion processions, while band parties from Ganjam district and other parts of the state charge up to Rs 1 lakh, according to Kalandi Nayak, the owner of Modern Band Party in Pattamundai.