Reviving Traditions: Mandip Paul's Artistry in Idol-Making

Mandip Paul, an educator and artist from Assam, infuses his family's age-old idol-making business with innovative artistry. Balancing teaching duties and artistic pursuits, Paul aims to sustain a rich legacy while incorporating new styles. Meanwhile, Pradip Kumar Ghosh's eco-friendly idols raise environmental awareness.

Mandip Paul, a fine arts graduate from Delhi University and educator at Don Bosco School in Guwahati, Assam, is intent on infusing creativity into his family's traditional Hindu idol-making business. The Paul family, entrenched in their craft since the 1970s, operates the Vivekananda Studio in Dhubri, producing Durga idols with a rich historical backdrop. Mandip, honoring this legacy, commutes between Guwahati and Dhubri, ensuring his involvement in the family enterprise while fulfilling his academic duties. He emphasizes the pursuit of artistic evolution, experimenting with Bengali styles like Kolkata's Kumartuli, and creating the tallest Durga idol in the Nataraj style.

Mandip expressed to ANI that his aim is not financial gain but sustaining his grandfather's legacy, with aspirations of possibly initiating a startup based on the family's traditional craftsmanship. In parallel, fellow Dubri artist Pradip Kumar Ghosh has crafted a Durga idol using over 8,000 discarded plastic bottle caps, symbolizing sustainability and serving as an environmental caution during the Navratri festival. Known for his eco-friendly creations using materials such as sugarcane waste, Ghosh's latest work, showcased at the Charmian Road's Durga Puja Pandal, highlights plastic pollution, bringing attention to climate change.

Ghosh's initiative underscores that art should marry beauty with purpose, aiming to start dialogues on environmental responsibility. His idol resonates with this year's Navratri theme of environmental consciousness, urging society to rethink waste usage and pollution. Through his annual artistic endeavors, Ghosh delivers impactful messages, reinforcing the need for sustainability. Durga Puja, an eminent festival originating from the Indian subcontinent, epitomizes the divine triumph celebrated extensively in Eastern India and parts of Bangladesh, accentuating cultural and environmental synergy this year.

(With inputs from agencies.)