Durga’s sojourn on earth can no longer be short, with immense labour, thought and craftsmanship going into Puja themes. These days, the goddess stays on after Dashami, in state archives and private collections.

Selimpur Pally’s idol this year, fashioned after a door-jam in Gurusaday Museum that belonged to an 18th Century temple in Faridpur, Bangladesh, has found place at Bangiya Sahitya Parishat’s new museum on Durga in Maniktala.

So have parts of pandals, dolls, Gujarati earthen pots, dokra items, West Dinajpur bamboo artefacts, masks and other art works that gave shape to myriad themes.

Says art historian Tapati Guha Thakurata, who picked up a couple of wooden dolls from Selimpur Pally for her home: “With the advent of theme pujas, the idols and the pandals have become works of art that need to be preserved. Though they are art made for the moment and hold value till the Puja lasts, it does seem a shame to see them go to waste.”

Organisers have to face queries from collectors of Puja art from as early as Panchami. Tamal Goswami, the artist behind the Selimpur Pally puja, says: “The two dokra lamps in front of the idol drew such a huge number of queries that we had to remove them right after Dashami.”

There are also clubs like Suruchi Sangha, which refused to sell its idol to anyone who wouldn’t worship it. The Suruchi Sangha pandal is going to be auctioned off on Sunday.

Arup Biswas, an organiser of the puja, said: “We have worshipped the idol for five days. How can we just sell it off for cash?”

Bhabatosh Sutar’s 2003 terracotta Durga has been kept at ITC Sonar Kolkata. While the artist is a little sceptical about the idol being kept in an open space, the hotel authorities are proud to have “captured the spirit of the Puja and showcased it in true authentic surroundings”.

Sutar’s 2005 lac-doll idol has been kept in the airconditioned confines of the State Archaeological Museum in Behala, while his 2004 mahogany idol is now part of Derek O’Brien’s collection.

Says Sutar: “I’m happy that our work is being appreciated and preserved. I don’t create images for preservation. In fact, I would say that as more and more of these works are immersed, better works will emerge.”

However, the artist would like to exhort the state into doing more for preservation.

He is seconded by Tapati, who believes “there is enough space on the Bypass or in the new townships or the innumerable malls, where such works can easily be preserved indoors or outdoors, as needed”.

Abasarika is a small puja on Maharaja Tagore Road, whose 2006 idol made after Ganesh Pyne’s motifs by Ramkumar Manna exists in Chitrakoot Art Gallery. “The gallery owner wanted to keep it and we gave it away for free,” says an organiser.

This year’s idol has been immersed but the pandal parts, adorned with bamboo works from West Dinajpur, were auctioned on Tuesday.