The Magic of Kumartuli

The magic of Kumartulli, where the potters create Gods and Goddesses tirelessly with wet clay, straw. Completed, with finely etched features, bedecked in finery, these make their way to homes and public places to be adored and worshipped. Durga, the woman, mother represents empowerment. Mala Pal, the first woman potter made her foray into this male dominated field and is referred to as the Durga of Kumartulli. Sutanuti, one of the three villages comprising Kolkata is where these potters “studios” are located.  Artistry at its best where they work with rudimentary tools to create awe inspiring masterpieces vying for not only the devotees’ attention but also the awards which are bestowed on them by many organizations. The lanes and by lanes leading upto the potters area is dotted with old mansions, decaying but majestic in their faded glory whispering of times gone by, the opulence and grandeur of the persons who inhabited them dwindled and vanished in the cloak of profligacy, manipulative fraud and cobwebs of treachery.

We walked down these lanes reliving people, communities and histories and we witnessed firsthand the unsung unfeted artisans creating Godliness. We met Mala Pal, the living  Durga, a woman potter in the bastion of men.

The tangible and intangible history captured by the photographers. A visual delight, no less! The many faces of Durga, the hands that craft the Goddess, the child swinging in abandon, the misty cobwebs of time, the “palash” flower for worshipping Durga, lying forlornly as a testimony to the merrymaking or maybe the fine old days of yore.