Bhubaneswar: The bells of auspiciousness and purity are creating magical vibes in the temple city with all the pandals well built and lit with bright lights, and inside them, the idols of goddess Durga standing gloriously and beautifully across Odisha.

A few days ago when the idols were still being given their shades, our team went to the Durga pandal in Rupali, Saheed Nagar in the capital city and talked to the workers involved in making the pandal and the idol.

Sarat Chandra Parida and Laxmidhar Rana are the two idol-makers from the twin city who have been creating such magnificent idols here since last forty years.

Sarat said, "We collect the dry hay and tie them up to wood into the shape and size of the idols. We then layer it with clay that we bring from the river bank, delicately framing the body parts of the deity. And once it dries up, we color it. Dressing her up with the saree and accessories follows next. We unveil her face after completion only on Saptami."

On the other hand, Rasulgarh gets their idol-makers from Haldia, West Bengal and their pandals have a different theme every year. This time, it portrays the lifestyles of adimanav and the modern world as informed by the President of Rasulgarh Durga Puja Committee, Pradip Barisal.

Likewise, other parts of our city adorn the vibes and aroma of the idol they worked hard on.

We asked Sarat about his feelings on making the deity's idol, he said, "It's an honor for us to be able to bring out the best of Devi's idol. She is the ruler of our universe; whatever we do is too little. We hope people like our work and so does goddess Durga. Her blessings are what keeps us going and that is all we need."

Saheed Nagar

Indeed, what better a blessing than to create the goddess herself?