From Haripada to Anamika: The Shakharibazar sculptors keeping traditions alive

When Anamika works, she feel as if her deceased father is still with her. Photo: Rajib Dhar

There are around 10 bhaskar shipaloys or sculpting workshops in Old Dhaka's Shakharibazar. Like the fruit warehouses in Badamtoli or the gold shops in Tatibazar, these are not clustered together. In fact, one workshop is quite far away from the other. 

While searching for sculptors who are working for Durga Puja, we found Anamika Nandy, the only female sculptor in the area, and her mother Sujola Nandy in their tiny workshop at the end of a narrow alley.

Sujola was sitting beside her daughter on the floor, watching her work. She had a wet gamcha wrapped around her; she had just come from the shoshan ghat after cremating her sister. 

Anamika was working on a small idol of Ganesh. She talked fast, but her hands worked faster, and by the end of our 15-minute conversation, Ganesh's bahon, or carrier— the mouse, was complete.

"I grew up watching my father Sushil Nandy work, and he was an amazing sculptor. When he was alive, I never really worked with clay, but I would sometimes help him with the colouring or dressing up part," she told us. 

However, he passed away two and a half years ago, and since then she has been handling the business along with her mother. 

Sushil had left an incomplete idol of Mahadev Thakur for Neel Puja. The client was a local who asked Anamika to complete it. 

"I was scared at first, but once I finished the idol and everyone said that it almost resembled my father's work, I was motivated to continue sculpting. Making idols is a seasonal work, but the young artist still wants to continue doing it. When I work, I feel as if my father is still with me," she said.    

Juggling between MBA classes and tutoring children barely leaves Anamika enough time to engage in sculpting. But still, she manages to finish at least two orders for Durga Puja. 

She is the only child, and sculpting idols help with the small family's finances. 

"It is just me and my daughter now. What she does is unbelievable, taking care of our small family all by herself," said Sujola.  

Among all the artists in this area, Haripada Pal is the most senior and also the most renowned.  You ask anyone, a store keeper or a laundry owner, about Haripada Pal's store, and he will give you the directions.

The address to his store is simply 52, Shakharibazar. The store called 'Shimulia Bhaskar Shilpaloy', which is almost as old as Bangladesh, is not a store really; it is Haripada's office cum workshop. 

Here, the 75-year-old sculptor, and one of the most senior artists in Old Dhaka, works his magic to create one beautiful protima (idol) after another. 

As Durga Puja has already begun, he is busy from morning till late at night. His frail health does not allow him to take multiple orders, so these days, he only works on one order. 

But the idols are quite large in size, and creating the Durga idol along with her entire family takes more than 15 days. 

The afternoon of our meeting, he was working on sculpting the tail of the lion that sits near Durga's feet. We did not want to disturb him or his work, so we silently observed him for a while. 

But he smiled at us from time to time, signalling with his hand that he would be free soon, so we should sit and wait. 

Bare chested and clad in only a blue lungi, Haripada's hair is all white. He walks slowly, but his fingers work swiftly, almost like a machine. In a few minutes, what looked like a dark lump of clay became a long, neat lion's tail.  

"I think I got into sculpting before 1963. I was very young. I come from a family of sculptors; my father and my grandfather were all sculptors. I was once a student of Bulbul Lalitakala Academy in Wais Ghat," he told us. 

His brother-in-law, Dilip Datta, manages the work orders and clients. He said, "Dada (brother, referring to Haripada) is one of the finest artists in the country. His pupils can be found in every corner of Bangladesh. You will find his works in cement in big temples in the city. Every year, he makes the Rokhha Kali idol, and every year, it is more beautiful than the previous one."

Haripada's working space is quite glum, with a few dim lights on the bluish grey wall. But his work is stunning. The idols of Durga's children—Lakshmi, Kartik, Ganesh, and Saraswati—were strewn all around the room, and in that darkness, they looked eerily and beautifully like human beings.   

"He was invited to the United States to work in 2012. Not only in Dhaka, he used to go to Mymensingh, Narsingdi, Faridpur, and many other places to make idols. But he is a lonely man these days; his only son died last year in December. It's just him and his wife in their house," said Dilip. 

As we walked around Shakharibazar, asking people about where we could find other sculptors, we met Narayan Pal and Paltan Pal, who were sitting in their workshop. 

The Hindu title 'Pal' once belonged to only sculptors, much like the 'Ghosh' title belonging to dairy farmers or sweet makers. Even now, there are many Hindu neighbourhoods titled 'Palpara' or 'Ghoshpara', indicating that once there were a large number of sculptors or dairy farmers living there. 

The Pals we met that day belonged to the same family, and both have been sculptors for more than 40 years. Paltan was busy working on a small idol while Narayan sat beside him with a sullen face. They did not seem particularly interested in speaking to journalists.  

"It doesn't feel like puja this year. Usually we get orders worth five to seven lakhs takas, but this year we got only two orders. But there's nothing we can do," said Narayan. 

Most of the sculptors or artists in Shakharibazar said the same thing: orders were few as most people were uncertain about the puja celebrations. 

Moreover, the number of sculpting workshops in Shakharibazar has dwindled over the years. This year, there are barely any signs of celebrations here, as the sculptors work on no more than two to three orders per workshop. 

We have been to Shakharibazar plenty of times on work assignments or simply to buy some powdered shankh (conch) or files of teep (bindi). It is especially vibrant before Durga Puja, with the whole area bustling with customers from all over Dhaka. A variety of rainbow-coloured puja items adorn the walls of the stores. 

It may have been the weather that day, cloudy with no chance of rain, or simply the absence of festivities in Shakharibazar that upset us.    

But Anamika looked happy while working, happier than the others. She patiently explained to us how they begin the whole process of creating an idol.

First, they create a framework with wood planks and form the idol shapes with hay. Then, layers of loam and clay are applied on the structure, which eventually becomes a beautiful protima. 

When she started working, it was not very easy for people to accept a female sculptor, but she received a lot of support from senior artists or sculptors like Haripada Pal, who worked with her father. 

"I get new customers who are fascinated by the idea of a female sculptor, but of course many of the old clients are from my father's time," said Anamika, adding, "I can't take too many orders anyway since I have my studies and tuitions. This puja, I took two orders, but I'm doing them all by myself. If I took on part-time helpers, I probably could have taken three orders."