Dulali’s rise as an artisan

Dulali Paul is 19, and has already made a niche for herself as an artisan in idol crafting.

Having watched her father Bijay Paul craft idols during puja festivals while growing up, she has garnered a passion for it. She has also acquired the necessary tutelage from him, since the beginning of secondary school, to start following in his footsteps.

Dulali is from Murakari village in Lakhai upazila of Habiganj. She has already crafted around 40 idols and is now able to contribute financially to her family.

"Since childhood, Dulali has been very interested in making idols and she feels comfortable doing it," said her father.

Visiting the family recently, this correspondent found Dulali busy alongside her father, making idols during the last three months before Durga Puja. The father-daughter duo has completed almost five idols already, which have been ordered for different mandaps for this year's festival. Only the last touch of colours on the idols are left to be done.

Each idol costs from Tk 25,000 to Tk 40,000. After excluding all expenses, the family will earn around Tk 1 lakh after completing the five idols, Bijay Paul said.

This year, Pran Gobinda Paul of Banugach in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar and Pramath Chandra Roy of Tulapara in Nasirnagar of Brahmanbaria bought the idols made by Dulali.

Pran Gobinda Paul said, "Dulali's work is very good. The price is also slightly lower. I intend to take idols from here in the future too."

Dulali is the third of four siblings. She wants to pursue higher studies and eventually enter government services. However, she said she does not want to leave the work of crafting idols and aspires to become a better artisan in the future.