AK Block ducks carnival call for lack of idol: Red Road debut for IB Block in golden jubilee year
Telegraph | 18 October 2024
Three pujas were selected from Salt Lake — FD Block, AK Block and IB Block to the state government’s immersion carnival. But idols of only two blocks drove down Red Road on Tuesday. This is because AK Block did not have an idol to immerse.
What was worshipped at the Sector II pandal in its 37th year were deities painted on six-ft high pitchers jutting out of the wall. “These clay structures are buried deep into the earth and attached to the wall at the back with iron support and would break if we try to dismantle them. Even if it were at all possible, it would take no less than seven to 10 days to bring them out intact. The other statue we have, of a young girl towering at a height of 18ft, is too unwieldy to take. So we had to decline to participate in the immersion carnival,” said general secretary Aritra Ranjan Sen.
Instead, the idol was hosed down on the pandal premises on Monday afternoon by fire brigade personnel using the water being used in the rainwater shower, thus bringing an environment-friendly practice to Salt Lake that has been followed earlier at major pujas like Tala Prattoy and Tridhara Sammelani.
This year, the block had secured the services of veteran theme-maker Bhabatosh Sutar, who was working for the first time in a puja in the township. He created a pandal and idols that sought to raise awareness on water conservation. The decision paid off in a rich haul on the awards scale though the lack of a traditional idol has upset several residents.
AK Block has attended the carnival six times since 2016, when it was selected for the first time.
Tala Prattoy faced a similar problem with a gigantic face attached to the wall as the idol in Susanta Paul’s creation. But the organisers had the budget to produce a replica of their idol on a smaller scale in 3D print, which they attached to an iron frame. This is what they took to the carnival and will preserve at the club, like they have done for the idols of the last two years.
Premiere plan
IB Block’s golden jubilee celebration had an added sheen thanks to a maiden call-up they got to the carnival. “We had started immersing the idol at the nearby Visarjan Ghat at New Town. But this year, we are back to the Hooghly,” smiled convenor Sudipta Mukherjee.
Their selection in the state government’s puja award had raised their hopes for a ticket to the carnival which was confirmed when a call came on Saturday. “We were invited to attend a carnival meeting on Sunday at an Alipore auditorium where we were briefed and asked about the number of participants,” he said.
The truck, which had carried the idol to the block, had been requisitioned for the immersion trip too. “Because of the carnival on Tuesday, we are calling him on Monday evening for loading rather than the immersion on Sunday,” Mukherjee said on Monday.