Artisans working with sholapith or the Indian cork have been given an opportunity by two prominent Durga Puja committees here to project their craftsmanship in decorating the pandals and the deities with their beautiful objects of art.

The Ballygunge Cultural Association in south Kolkata have brought 40 sholapith artisans from a remote village in South 24 Parganas district along with their 200 assistants to craft delicate objects to adorn the deities and the puja premises.

Shola is a plant, growing wild in marshy waterlogged areas and the sholapith is the cortex or core of the plant and these inner soft milky-white and spongy materials are almost similar to thermocol, which is artificially produced in a laboratory.

It is, however, better than thermocol in terms of malleability, texture, lustre and sponginess and is preferred by the artisans.

Though sholapith items are used in religious, public, cultural, social and traditional occasions, those behind the making of these art objects have seldom been talked about, a puja committee spokesperson said.

“We had thought about projecting the craftspeople those who make the ‘chandmala’ (garland of pith used in adorning the idol) and ‘sholar mukut’ (crowns). Their products are widely used in our hosehold pujas but those behind the making of these items seldom get recognition for their work.

So we traced these people through our contacts and brought them here,” she said.

The artisans worked tirelessly for 240 days to make the effort of the Ballygunge Cultural Association successful, the spokesperson said.

“We are trying to project this art through publicity and promote it on a grand scale.

“This would in turn help in the economic development of the artisans living in the district,” she said.

The effort has been complimented by visitors who flocked to the pandal.

Anuradha Roy, a media professional said, “We had never thought about the shola workers who make such intricate designs with shola pith. The credit for bringing them into the

“I took down their addresses as I have plans to visit their villages to do a story on the behind-the-scene people involved in sholapith art.”

A short distance away, Ekdalia Evergreen Club, has installed a 32-feet giant ‘chandmala’ for the Durga Puja. The ‘chandmala’ was hung from a building adjacent to the pandal.

Consisting of three discs of eight feet diameter each, the ‘chandmalas’ have tiny bulbs to illuminate the frame so that they are visible after dusk, a puja committee spokesman said.

The aim of this initiative is to support and revive the ‘shola and chandmala art’ and bring back the spotlight on the artisans, who always remain behind the scene, he said.

Arup Dasgupta, a state government employee who brought his family to the Ekdalia Evergreen pandal, said “My 10-year old son was excited to see such a giant chandmala which was illuminated at night. I explained to him that this artwork was created by people who worked for days together to make us feel happy during Durga Puja.”