Gold ‘Dola Bimana’ now talk of town in Odisha’s Silver city

Bhubaneswar: The locals of Kathagada Sahi in Odisha’s Cuttack city have come up with a Bimana (palanquin) made of gold to add grandeur to the Dola festival.

This is the first occasion when the residents of a locality in Cuttack have come up with a gold palanquin to celebrate the Dola festival.

The residents of Kathagada Sahi had engaged a group of five skilled artisans to craft the five-foot tall Dola Bimana. They have donated around 2.5 kg gold for this purpose, sources said.

The Kathagada Sahi locals were earlier using a Dola Bimana made of around 80 kg silver for celebration of the festival. They had decided to come up with a Bimana made of gold after the famous silver filigree work received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag recently.

“We had decided to construct the Dola Bimana with 4 kg gold. But, we could arrange only 2.5 kg gold for the purpose this year. All residents of Kathagada Sahi have made their contributions. We have spent around Rs 2 crore to construct the Dola Bimana,” said a local.

According to him, at least five skilled goldsmiths led by Pradeep Prusty of Alisha Bazar have toiled hard to craft the Bimana.

According to locals, beautifully-designed gold filigree works have been fitted on a steel frame to construct the Dola Bimana.

“Around 75 per cent work of the Dola Bimana has been completed this year. We will arrange 1.5 kg gold and complete the remaining work next year,” added the local.

It is worth mentioning here that several Puja committees in Cuttack have already constructed silver tableaux and gold crowns and other ornaments for the idols for annual Dussehra celebration.