Durga Puja is an industry. A British Council study published in 2019 put the creative economy of the festival at a very large share of West Bengal’s state output, and the number of people it employs directly — idol makers, pandal builders, lighting workers, dhakis, decorators, caterers, security, printers, sound and transport — runs into the hundreds of thousands.
The big clubs raise money from sponsorship, from local subscription and from state grants, and the largest budgets now run past a crore for a structure that stands for five days.
The names
Places, pujas and people, with what each one is| Name | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Kumartuli idol trade1700s | north Kolkata | Hundreds of workshops; idols made for the city and for export. |
| Pandal builders | across the city | Bamboo, cloth and structural work, largely by contractors from the districts. |
| Chandannagar lighting1900s | Chandannagar | The lighting industry that supplies Bengal and beyond. |
| Dhakis | from the districts | Drummers who come in for the week; hired at the Sealdah and Howrah gatherings. |
| Sponsorship and advertising | city-wide | Corporate sponsorship of the big pujas, and the hoarding trade around them. |
| The design prizes1980s | city-wide | Asian Paints Sharad Samman and others; the competition drives the budgets. |
| Caterers and bhog kitchens | every puja | Cooking for thousands over five days. |
| Sound, security and transport | city-wide | The largest temporary logistics operation of the state’s year. |
| Gariahat and Hatibagan retail | city-wide | The six-week shopping season that precedes it. |
Worth knowing
- The British Council study in 2019 was the first serious attempt to measure it.
- Budgets for the biggest pujas now exceed a crore.
- Most of the workforce is seasonal and comes in from the districts.
- Almost everything built is dismantled after five days.
- The clubs raise money from subscription, sponsorship and state grants.
More on Durga Puja
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