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| World Cup festival at Kumartuli |
| Press Trust Of India / Kolkata Jun 28, 2010, 00:40 IST |
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As the FIFA World Cup gets into the knock-out stage, it's festival time at Kumartuli, the clay idol hub of West Bengal. To celebrate the football extravaganza going on in South Africa, the Kumartuli artisans have made life-size idols of Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney to name a few.
The idols have been put on display at the clubs and pandals with lighting as the fever grips the football-crazy city.
Kumartuli Jaisangha Club artisan Prashanta Pal, who specialises in making Durga idols that are exported to various countries, has sculpted three life-size statues of Messi, Maradona and Robinho. The Argentine duo have been put alongside Brazilian hero Robinho in front of the Kumartuli Jaisangha Club with lighting as the members celebrate the festival together every evening.
"It took me about four days to make the idols, of 5.8 inches height. I had to take utmost precaution taking into consideration the monsoon. The three idols have been put on display for more than a week now," Prashanta said.
"We have decorated the idols, there is lighting to go with it. After all, it's the festival that comes once in four years. Bengalis have a love for football and we are really excited," said the Argentine die-hard supporter who also likes the Brazilian "art of football". For the love and passion for football, Prashanta has made the three idols, costing about Rs 50,000, free of cost.
Another Kumartuli artiste, Sunil Pal, who had made around 12 idols of players like Vivian Richards, Wasim Akram and Mohammad Azharuddin with plaster of Paris during the 1996 ICC World Cup, has chosen fibreglass this time around. "Fibreglass is sterner, though it costs more," said Sunil who is making life-size idols of Rooney, Ronaldo, Kaka, Henry and Messi.
"Unlike clay idols, the margin of error in the fibreglass is very high. One small mistake and you could go totally wrong with the face," he said. The five football heroes, will be on display against a 15-foot ekchala inside a Deshapriya Park pandal complete with lights, likely to be from Chandernagore.
The idols will be on display from July 6.
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