Ranchi: With barely a month left for Durga Puja, preparations have gathered pace across Ranchi as artisans work day and night to complete elaborate themed pandals before the festivities begin.Many artisans, especially from West Bengal, have reached the city and are camping at puja sites to meet tight deadlines. Bamboo, cloth, plywood and decorative material now fill major pandal locations, where organisers are pushing to finish structural work before final lighting and ornamentation begin.At Bhartiya Navyuvak Sangh’s Durga Puja pandal in Upper Bazaar, around 40 artisans from Purulia in West Bengal are engaged in construction. Raju Roy, one of the artisans, said his team had been at the site for the past month and was staying there to ensure timely completion. “We are working round the clock. This year, the pandal will be a replica of a large temple,” he said.At Chandrashekhar Azad Puja pandal near Albert Ekka Chowk, nearly 60 artisans from West Bengal’s Medinipur have been working for the past one-and-a-half months. Pandal designer Abhigyan Singh said this year’s theme is Dwarka Nagri, and the structure is being built at an estimated cost of at least Rs 5 lakh.Work has also started at a pandal near Ranchi railway station, where artisan Bhaduri Das said around 30 artisans had been working for the past two weeks. The team is now concentrating on major structural work before decorative finishing begins.As preparations intensify, artisans said the coming weeks will bring longer hours as organisers rush to complete Ranchi’s themed pandals before Puja opens to visitors.
