Quite likely the first of it’s kind, Kolkata’s Jodhpur Park’s Durga Pooja idol has been manufactured using 3-D Printing technology. The digital creation is of the goddess Durga, who is the presiding deity of the 10-day long Dussehra festival that will begin in India on 25 September. The unique creation was conceived by Ujjal Mitra, director of Printz Worldwide.
“We have digitally created a Durga idol, designed by sculpting apps and using 3D printer, which uses standard office stationery (A4 size paper) to make the models from the design. So you may say that this is a computer-aided design (CAD)-computer aided manufacturing (CAM) process,” he says.
3-D printing uses computer-base designs to manufacture an entire product outputed by just one machine. Just as a paper print adds print to a paper, the 3-D printer adds layers of material to create a full 3-dimensional object. The community has chosen this method in a break with the traditional handmade clay Durga idols.
Ujjwal is all set to take his product out to the larger world, at an estimated price of $1000. “So we are trying to open up an opportunity for the traditional craftsmen to learn this skill and gradually switch to digital work, so maybe next time they would not need to physically transport a Durga idol for all out-station orders, but send the ‘design’ to a 3D printer nearest to the client and have it printed out there.” He believes that this is a cheap and effective way of taking the goddess to the world, especially do-it-yourself enthusiasts.
Dussehra is a 10-day festival that is celebrated in worship of the feminine deities, Durga, Laskhmi and Saraswati. The first nine days of the festival are known as Navaratri and the final, tenth day in known as Vijayadashami. These are very significant festivals in India and are traditionally a time hen families get together to worship the feminine aspects in various ways.