Slideshow: Idols come to life at Kolkata's Kumartuli

This is how the idols are first given form and shape. Over the hay, the potters use clay to get the final figure.

Potters coat the dry grass with clay

Workers put finishing touches to a statue

Amid the hustle and bustle of potters making claying idols and tourists gawking at them, this old man manages to catch some sleep.

Idols being left to dry in the sun

A finished idol

Kolkata has some really grand old buildings, many of them in a sad state of disrepair. This building is at the end of the lane in Kumartuli, the potters colony in Kolkata.