Kumartuli, with its generations of artisans engaged in making clay idols, has secured a place in the lexicon of Bengali culture. The dingy lanes, muddy corners, puddles, tarpaulins and rows of painted, unpainted and half-painted idols of the ten-armed goddess frozen in the act of killing the demon, her four wards and their carrier animals, in unabashed nudity towering over the artisans silently kneading clay or mixing colors — A live art gallery! Here an artist is busy in preparing clay idols.