The long awaited month of Pujas is around the corner. With bated breath, the people of Bengali and ‘Probashi Bangalis’ alike wait for Ma Durga to visit her maternal home along with her kids. A festival which rises above religious, caste differences, there is beauty in the wait and joy in the tears when we bid Durga farewell on Dashami. But who brings these beautiful images of Durga alive? Where are these stunning models out of clay created?
With more than five thousand idols being made, the kumors (potters) paras are busy months before we start making our Puja plans. ‘Garanlkathamo puja’, a puja on the day of Rathayatra when they worship the tools along with Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi, the artisans begin their work.
The creations of these artisans spellbound the crowds but for them, it is just means of survival. Durga Puja is a time for celebration, but there is an underlying melancholy to the festivities. Run by families that have been into idol-making and pottery for generations, the bustle of Kumartuli is almost silent at the break of dawn. Kumartuli means ‘potters’ quarter’. The workshops where the karigars (artists) work is made up entirely on narrow lanes. These workshops are often extensions of temporary residences of the artisans. During this grand affair of Bengal, workers are hired from other parts of Bengal to finish the work on time. To describe a workshop simply, it is a linear rectangular room with an entrance facing the road or the lane, with rows of idols stored on either side. This temporary structure is made of bricks and slopping roof of tin shades supported on bamboo truss system. Some of them has mezzanine floors. Some shops have conventional staircases but most build wooden or steel ladders. These workshops compromise of working space, storage space for idols, storage space of raw materials, eating, cooking and sleeping space of karigars.
Kalighat kumor para came into prominence along with Kalighat potua para. Known for idols of Goddess Kali during Kalipujo or Diwali, the workshops are based where Kalighat Road curves north from Hazra Road. The structures here similar to those found in Kumortuli.
Journalist Bishwanath Ghosh sums up the celebration crisply, “No matter what your mode of travel, you arrive in a city where celebration is the uniform civil code. From whichever corner you look at it, you will find nothing else but puja pandals, food stalls and a multitude of people out on the roads until the wee hours. It’s carnival time. It’s a religious event, cultural occasion, music season, literary fair, food festival, fashion show — all rolled into one.”
“Dekha hocche toh Pujoe?”
Also watch the video here.
Cinematography by Mukul Kumar Jana and Diptesh Basu
Editing by Mukul Kumar Jana
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