GANGTOK, 07 Feb: It is Saraswati Puja on 08 Feb [Tuesday], and as the accompanying photograph bears out, the artist selling idols of the Goddess Saraswati at Tadong has hardly any idols left for last-minute buyers.
“I have been camped here for a week now,” he shared between mouthfuls as he ploughed through his lunch of puffed rice. The largest statue in his inventory was 4.5ft tall which fetched him Rs. 1,500 and smaller ones of 1 ft height were still going for Rs. 200.
As we were leaving, he shouted after us, “If you want to see a wider variety and taller statues, go to Sichey, another artisan has brought a larger stock this year and is displaying them there.”
This remains the only time we have come across someone recommending his competitor’s wares, its perhaps the purity which underlines the essence of Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. It is also perhaps apt that the worship of the Goddess of Knowledge comes a day after schools and colleges reopened across Sikkim today.
ANUPA RAI
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