Kataka: With Durga Puja drawing closer, the Silver City is beginning to regain its festive sheen as artisans work tirelessly to restore the sparkle of its famed silver filigree ornaments.
Brushes in hand and chemical solutions at their disposal, artisans are busy cleaning and polishing elaborate silver ornaments that adorn the Durga Puja medhas (silver canopies) across Kataka. From the Goddess’s crown and throne to lotus garlands, crowns, armlets, elephants and peacocks adorning the medha, each piece is being carefully cleaned and repaired ahead of the festival.
The cleaning work has begun at several puja committees, including the Khananagar Khapuria Industrial Area Puja Committee. Artisans from the Mansinghpatna area are primarily engaged in the painstaking work, which intensifies as the puja approaches.
It takes more than four artisans nearly 10 days to clean around three quintals of silver ornaments. The elaborate silver structures accumulate dust and grime during the puja and immersion process and are therefore cleaned every year. Apart from chemical cleaning using sulphur and acid, damaged ornaments are also repaired through rewelding.
The gleaming silver medhas are not the only sign of the approaching festivities. Administrative preparations for Kataka’s Durga Puja have also gathered pace, with Maa Durga set to be worshipped at 172 puja pandals across the city.
Puja committees require permissions for various arrangements, including pandal decorations, cultural programmes, fire safety, electricity connections and immersion processions. Though a single-window system was introduced last year, committees had complained of difficulties and harassment while obtaining different permissions.
To address the issue, the district administration is planning to introduce an online application system this year, allowing puja committees to apply for necessary permissions from their homes.
Security arrangements are also receiving priority, with puja committees being urged to strictly comply with prescribed norms relating to fire safety, electrical installations and immersion processions.
As artisans polish centuries-old craftsmanship back to its brilliance and pandals begin taking shape, Kataka is steadily slipping into the festive rhythm of Durga Puja, once again preparing to showcase why it is known as the Silver City.
