The symphony of artisans kneading clay, hammering frames in place, hoisting 50kg idols of gods and goddesses and the clicking of photographers’ cameras capturing the spectacle make up the scene at Kumartuli in the run-up to Durga Puja. This 300-year-old neighbourhood — translating to ‘potters’ quarters’ — captures a timeless artistic heritage of Kolkata and represents a unique paradox between sacred and secular where diverse crowds gather to watch ceremonial God-making in sludge-filled congested lanes.
The maze of narrow bylanes dates back to colonial times, when a group of potters migrated to Kolkata from Krishnagore, a town in Nadia. Bringing with them their age-old traditions of crafting idols with clay, this first generation of migrant potters became the acto rs of a burgeoning cultural movement. The first influx was in 1757, when Raja Nabakrishna Deb of Shobhabazar Rajbari brought the artisans from Krishnagore to Kumartuli to create the idols of what became one of the first domestic Durga Pujas. As the British East India Company began earmarking neighbourhoods, a growing number of these potters flooded the locality and took to fashioning idols of Gods and Goddesses with clay from the river and delivering them to local mansions.
Kumartuli is not just a neighbourhood; it is a living museum and a rich tapestry of Kolkata’s artistic and cultural heritage
For the most part, the craftsmanship has remained unchanged except for minor innovations, like application of spray paint. The ‘kumors’ start with a bamboo-and-straw frame and layer it with clay. The artistic alchemy lies in the intricate facial expressions of the deities, the painting and embellishments.
“In total, there are over 10,000 artists and a wider network of craftsmen if we include the ones who operate in the neighbouring areas and come here to sell. Most of them are seasonal workers who return to their respective districts during the off-season to attend to farming,” said Sujit Pal of the Kumartuli Mritshilpi Sanskritik Samiti. About 550 idolmakers each hire thousands of workers just before Durga Puja, who work together until the end of the festive season. The idols are delivered to heritage mansions, community pujas across the city and are even dispatched to various parts of the country and abroad. Amid spells of rain, hordes of camera-carrying content creators and inquisitive tourists, the workers remain unfazed and don’t bother to engage in small talk. They work quietly from the crack of dawn to night in the dimly lit open lanes demarcated by plastic sheets draping their workshops. Their work is the economic lifeline of their families back home.
