The clay modellers of Kumartuli, Kolkata's key idol-making hub, are happy this year as orders for Durga idols are pouring in but at the same time, they are not satisfied with the price they are being offered by their clients.

After a two-year hiatus due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the artisans' colony in the northern part of the city is brimming with life and energy as the modellers and their assistants are busy creating idols of Goddess Durga and her progeny with bamboo, clay, ropes, hay, woods and other items.

Yet, amid all the hustle and bustle, they are disheartened as they are not getting the right price for the idols though the raw materials have become expensive and the wage of workers has increased.

"The situation is excellent this year after two years of gloom. Bookings have increased for all modellers. But prices of raw materials have increased manifold and we cannot pass on the cost to our loyal customers," Kanchi Pal, a lady artisan, told PTI.

Pal who is making 20 idols said that all major artisans have received orders for 10 idols on an average and it is a much better situation compared to the previous two years.

According to artisan Somnath Rudra Pal, the demand for Durga idols has risen but the puja organisers are requesting the modellers to keep the prices of the idols as low as possible.

"The organisers are claiming that they are low on budget. The problem is we are not in a position to raise the price of the idols. We are somehow managing," he said.

"The main karigar' (worker) charges Rs 1,500 per day and a helper takes Rs 800. It was much less earlier," he said.

A finished idol of Goddess Durga along with her four children and the mahisasura' (buffalo demon) costs around Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh and can go up to Rs 1.5 lakh.

Many organisers, however, are saying they cannot afford to pay so much. Some even asked the modellers to keep the price in the range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, Somnath Rudra Pal added.

Mala Pal said that she has got a fair number of orders from in and around the city besides the usual small idols that go abroad. Locally, she received orders to make around 30 Durga idols of different sizes.

There is no problem related to the orders from outside India. The situation is, however, different with the local puja organisers, she said.

We are not bargaining with them with the prices of idols though the prices of raw materials have skyrocketed," Mala Pal told PTI as she worked on an idol at her workshop in Kumartuli.

Five bundles of hay now cost around Rs 350 but it was Rs 200 before and for one kilogram of rope, she has to shell out Rs 150 instead of Rs 120 earlier.

The puja committees are requesting us to keep the price affordable for them. So I am doing so, she said.

Mala Pal said that she has already shipped small Durga idols (2.5 feet to 3 feet in height) to the Americas, the UK and Switzerland.

Another artisan Subhas Pal said that the market situation is more like 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic struck with the only problem being the spike in the price of raw materials.

The price of one quintal of wood was Rs 1,800, and now it has become Rs 3,200. Similarly, the price of one kg of nail was Rs 75, while it is Rs 100 this year.

We cannot afford to lose our clients. I am trying to get the price I got in 2019 by keeping the profit margin low as the number of orders has increased, Subhas Pal said.

Famous clay modeller Mintu Pal, who had sculpted an 88-feet high Durga idol for a Kolkata puja committee in 2015, also said the situation has become like the pre-COVID-19 period.

"Of the 35 idols being made in my workshop, 30 are for community pujas and five housing complex pujas. On an average, the idols are 10 feet high," he said.

The price of the idols is between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh as the puja organisers are not in a position to raise the budget of the idols due to the COVID-19 situation in the past two years, though the cost of raw materials and wage of labourers have escalated, he said.

He said 12 of his idols have gone overseas, including the US, Italy, the UK and Africa.

Kanchi pal said there are about 1,000 clay modellers in the artisans' colony.

Durga Puja in Kolkata was included in UNESCO's representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2021.