The 2022 Durga idol of Babubagan Sarbojanin in Dhakuria has made its way to a token released by the India Government Mint in Alipore.
The souvenir, like the idol itself, marks the Calcutta festival’s enlistment on the Unesco’s representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The token, in tombak bronze, weighs 100g and is 60mm in diameter. It was released on October 17 in the presence of Sujata Gupta, the theme-maker of the Babubagan puja who is also the puja committee’s joint secretary.
“I have been in charge of our pandal for seven years now. While I had always wanted to create an impact among visitors, never in my dreams had I imagined that my work would be recognised by both the central and the state governments,” said Gupta, who teaches management at a private business school.
The Babubagan idol was selected by the chief minister for preservation at the Alipore Museum. The clay idol is lodged there in a cell along with large replicas of coins that were created for the pandal last year.
The idol’s journey to replication in bronze started on Navami 2022 when a senior mint official, in the course of pandal-hopping, discovered the Babubagan pandal decorated with enlarged replicas of coins that have come out since Independence.
The idol is in relief on a bi-metallic base with a golden outer ring — like the current Rs 10 coin — which had the Unesco heritage tag inscribed on it.
“It was fascinating that such a theme was conceived for Durga puja. I had been mulling a Durga Puja coin ever since the Unesco announcement, which I feel has not received enough national attention. This puja had the design for such a coin ready. So I left word for the organisers to meet me after the Puja,” said Rajat Paul, chief general manager at the mint.
Paul clarified that what has been issued was not a legal tender as it carried no denomination. One has to buy it from the mint. “People think that the mint deals only in coins. But we are also the suppliers of all the Padma award and Param Veer Chakra medals,” he said.
This year, after the release, the mint officials attended a camp near the Babubagan pandal on Chaturthi on request from the club. “They sold around 60 tokens in three hours,” Babubagan puja secretary Saroj Bhowmick said,
The token comes in a special wooden box which also has a stand. It can be purchased from the mint at Rs 1,099 or ordered online with delivery charges added.
Gupta said they were exploring the option of a commemorative coin but the process is long-drawn.
“The proposal has to originate from the state government and directed to the Union ministry of finance. Now that the token has come out, we plan to approach Didi (the chief minister) to initiate the proposal,” Gupta said.
A commemorative coin featuring a goddess was released once in independent India, on the silver jubilee of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, in 2013.