Durga Puja at the movies

For decades, filmmakers have used Durga Pujo celebrations as motifs or as backdrops for key events in their narratives. Visuals from the festive season have often lent themselves for the creation of dance numbers, memorable scenes and sequences, replete with symbolism.

Writer-director of the Bengali film, Mahalaya, Soumik Sen says, “The pujos have been used as motifs in Bengali cinema very often. Utsab, Joi Baba Felunath, Bishorjon (2017), Nayak (1966) and Bela Seshe (2015) are some examples of how differently and beautifully the festival has been merged into the story. In Hindi films, Kahaani and Devdas come to the mind when one thinks of weaving in the celebrations of Durga Pujo into the story. The difference lies in the way the festival has found its place across popular cultures from the West to the East.”

Bengali movies

But of course, Bengali movies over the years have underlined the spirit of our main festival Durga Pujas through their stories. 

Sayajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955), Devi (1960) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979) all have Durga Puja as the central theme.

Based on the novel by Indian eminent writer Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay, ‘Pather Panchali’ (1955) shows the mundane life of a poverty-stricken village family. Durga is the name of the elder sister of the protagonist of the film. The scene of her running through a “sea of fluffy whiteness” – field of Kaashphool (accharum spontaneum is the scientific name of this flower) is permanently etched in Bengali consciousness as a representation of autumn. Durga Puja celebration in the village gives the duo excuse for merriment before tragedy befalls the family in the form of Durga’s death. Pather Panchali had won India’s National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1955. It also received the Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

For Feluda fans, ‘Joi Baba Felunath’ (1979) is special for reasons more than one: not only is it set against the backdrop of Durga Puja, it also introduces one of the most iconic villains in Bengali fiction – Maganlal Meghraj. The story revolves around the affluent Ghoshal family, which is gearing up to celebrate Durga Puja at their ancestral home in Varanasi. A few days before the festivities, a family heirloom goes missing from the house – a precious gold statuette of Ganesha, the Elephant God. Feluda is entrusted with the responsibility of recovering the antique. As the case unravels, Feluda, along with his two constant companions – Topshe and Jatayu (a.k.a Lalmohan Ganguly) encounter a shrewd businessman by the name of Maganlal Meghraj. In order to solve the case of the missing god, Feluda will have to outwit Meghraj, unmask the traitor within the Ghoshal home and restore the heirloom to its rightful place – all before Durga Puja. 

‘Devi’ (The Goddess) tells the story of a girl Dayamoyee (played by Sharmila Tagore - read her interview here) who was forcefully married to Umaprasad (played by Soumitra Chatterjee). Dayamoyee takes care of his father-in-law Kalikinkar Choudhuri who believes Dayamoyee is actually an incarnation of Goddess ‘Kaali’ and she has to be worshipped. The whole village also worships Dayamoyee. Her husband Umaprasad, a school teacher outside the village, can’t convince Dayamoyee because she also starts to believe the ‘incarnation of Goddess’ story. But her so-called belief soon becomes a tragedy.

Rituporno Ghosh also has revisited Durga Puja in three films - Hirer Angti (1992), Utsab (2000) and Antarmahal (2005)

Rituporno Ghosh’s debut and possibly his least known film ‘Hirer Angti’ (1992) is based on a novel by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay. As the opening credits roll, the voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra reciting Mahisasuramardini plays in the background. It is the immortalized dawn-radio program that is synonymous with the day of Mahalaya for Bengali people. The craftsman working on Devi Durga’s unfinished idol, the chandelier in the courtyard and the sound of the dhaak – the sights and sounds bring out the festive mood in the house of the protagonist Ratanlal Babu, played by Indian popular actor Basanta Chowdhury. A story about a joint family, an heirloom and dacoits and imposters, a smart kid and a pet dog, the film is reminiscent of Ray’s works for children.

'Utsab' (2000) has been one of the most important films by Rituparno Ghosh which received Golden Lotus Award for Best Director. On the backdrop of Durga Puja, the film is a nice commentary showing many emotional currents passing among a family and relatives. Some of the industry’s big names like Madhabi Mukherjee, Mamta Sankar and Prosenjit Chatterjee played key roles alongside Rituparna Sengupta. The story starts with the Durga Puja celebration in an elderly lady's spacious, ancestral house but the fragmentation of the joint family soon changes the scenario. Rituparno used Durga Puja as the ideal peg on which hangs the film. Read a fantastic article on this movie here.

Largely based on Tarashankar Bandhopadhyay's popular short story 'Protima', Rituparno Ghosh directed ‘Antarmahal’ (2005) is a poignant tale of misogyny and oppression with religion being a metaphorical aspect. It’s a bold story intertwining the disturbed personal lives of an elderly zamindar (Jackie Shroff), his two wives (Roopa Ganguly and Soha Ali Khan), and a potter (Abhishek Bachchan) assigned to craft the Durga idol in the image of Queen Victoria. But the potter gets attracted to Jashomoti (Soha Ali Khan), and makes a durga idol with Jashomoti's face on instead.

Other films

‘Antony Firingee’ (1967) starring the Bengali Superstar actor Uttam Kumar; is based on the life of Hensman Anthony, a Bengali language folk poet of Portuguese origin. In the screenplay, religious fanatics attack the Christian man who dares to organize Durga Puja in his home. His house is burnt down by them. His wife, played by Tanuja (a prominent actress of the Indian Film World), is grievously injured in the fire. However, in real life, despite the odds of the society, Anthony and his wife lived happily and died natural deaths - read more here. (Jaatishwar, a 2014 adaptation directed by Srijit Mukherji, depicted Anthony’s life in retrospect but with a modern-day context.)

‘Debipaksha’ (2004) directed by Raja Sen, is all about Haimanti (Rituparna Sengupta), a survivor of a brutal sexual assault who courageously decides to stand against her molester when her younger sister's safety is also threatened. Transformed by the violence of the evil moment, Haimanti finally lifts the trident of her priest father's presiding deity, and manages to plunge it into the tormentor. It’s symbolic to Shakti prevailing over evil once more. Decimation of Asura lifts the spirit of Maa Durga also.

The plot of ‘Bodhon’ (2015) revolves around a family crisis that starts on Mahalaya (the very first day of the Puja fortnight) and encapsulates Ishaani's (Arpita Pal) inner dilemma about motherhood and its boundaries. ‘Bodhon’, directed by telecom engineer turned filmmaker Ayananshu Banerjee, is an ideal tribute to all those caring women in our lives. The title Bodhon refers to the invocation of Goddess Durga which takes place on the sixth day: shahsthi.

Kaushik Ganguly's 2017 hit ‘Bishorjon’ has received several prestigious awards including the National Award for the best Bengali cinema. The audience loved the characters played by Abir Chatterjee, Jaya Ahasan and Kaushik Ganguly. The story of the film revolves around a Muslim man from India and a Hindu widow and it’s a cross-border love story. Ganguly's character Ganesh no doubt adds the cherry on the cake. The film gained such popularity that it convinced Ganguly to make a sequel titled ‘Bijaya’.

Srijit Mukherjee’s ‘Uma’ (2018) sets the story up in Kolkata (East India); where the city comes together to fabricate a fake Durga Puja, to fulfil the dreams of a young girl, Uma. Uma, by the way, is another name of Goddess Durga. A director with a failed career creates an alternative reality spanning across the city; cleverly showcasing all aspects of the carnival. The frenzied crowds hopping pandals, illuminated streets, roadside snacks and rituals across the five days of the festival, right up to idol immersion. The screenplay is inspired by the incredible story of the people of the town of St. George, Ontario, Canada. They had recreated a false Christmas for a terminally ill seven-year-old boy, Evan Leversage in October 2015. 

Dhrubo Ghosh’s ‘Durgeshgorer Guptodhon’ (2019), features Subarna Sen or Sonada (Abir Chatterjee) with Aabir and Jhinuk embarks on his new adventure, a quest that takes them to the legendary Durgeshgor. The journey reveals that the Debroy family, the erstwhile zamindars in their princely mansion hold the key to a presumed rumor of a treasure connected with Plassey. With an amazing vibrant backdrop of Durga Puja in the princely Debroy mansion where the trio is invited for the occasion, one after the other clues are revealed testing Sonada`s wit and grit one more time leading towards the discovery of one of greatest treasures Bengal has ever witnessed. (Incidentally unlike other Bengali detective-adventure films, treasure hunter Subarna Sen or Sonada is not a literary creation. He is a composite of Indiana Jones and fictional sleuths Feluda, Kakababu and Arjun.)

Written and directed by Pavel Bhattacharjee, ‘Asur’ (2000) is an action-thriller. A tribute to the sculptor Ramkinkar Baij, the film explores the relationship between three friends through the making of the world’s largest Durga idol. The sculptor, who is one of the three friends, fails to understand the importance of relationships while giving his life to his art and his masterpiece.

Other Bengali films that feature Durga Puja include Tista Ekti Nadir Naam (1973) and Durga Sohay (2017 - photo above) are a couple more films where important parts of the narrative have been woven around the festival. Filmmaker Ramkamal Mukherjee’s short film Season’s Greetings (2018), a homage to filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, uses a motif of children visiting parents for the Durga Puja in his film — something Ghosh’s Utsab also employed. Ramkamal says, “The festival has different meanings and style of celebrations across the country. For Bengalis, it’s about Maa’s homecoming, symbolically depicted as a mother, daughter, wife or a sister in films. I’ve shown this in my film, too, to doff my hat to someone who crafted bold stories and broke all taboos — something that Maa also embodies.”

Durga Puja in Hindi Films

In Bollywood,  Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhee’s 1981 Bengali-Hindi bilingual Anushandhan, made in Hindi as Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, used Durga as the metaphor of triumph. As a police officer, Amitabh is seen investigating an evil father-son duo. He is even seen playing drums during Durga pujo and beating Amjad Khan at a competition.

On the other hand, is Shakti Samanta’s Amar Prem (1972), featuring Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Mehra and Sharmila Tagore. The film had a brief, but an extremely powerful depiction of Durga pujo, which appears at the end of the film. While Nandu (Vinod) takes Pushpa (Sharmila), his foster mother, home, we see protimas of Maa Durga being taken to pandals, hinting at mahalaya. The symbolic reference to Maa’s homecoming was hard for anyone to miss.

Raj Kapoor's film Ram Teri Ganga Maili too, had a short but immensely pertinent scene that depicted Durga Puja. The beautiful Ganga waiting for her lover to come back to Gangotri, has just given birth to a baby boy and her local guardian, Post-Babu, is elated. He beats a steel plate in order to proclaim his happiness about becoming a grandfather. That faint plate noise is merged with the thunderous music of drums being beaten at a Durga Puja celebration in Kolkata, when Naren (Rajiv Kapoor) is being coerced by his family to forget about Ganga and get married to the shrewd businessman, Bhagwat Chowdhury's daughter. Naren, who can neither speak up against his family, nor express his feelings to anyone, silently stares into the Goddess' eyes and conveys his heartfelt anguish to her, all in a gaze.

With the emergence of the new generation of Bengali directors, Durga Puja has featured in many hindi movies in the new millennium. Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta (2005), adapted from the eponymous Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, uses Durga Puja as a backdrop on two crucial occasions — once to show the love and care Lolita (Vidya Balan) has for Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan) and then to show Shekhar’s jealousy towards Lolita’s friendship with Girish (Sanjay Dutt). The film also uses the traditional dhunuchi dance as a tool for the narrative.

The filmmaker shares, “Durga Puja has often been used as a backdrop in films or as a part of the story. It only makes sense to include the festivities when there is some meaning to it. During pujo, you meet people and interact with them, and relationships also blossom. That is how we also used it in the film.”

Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani (2012) features one of the most well-recalled, and what is considered to be one of the best amalgamations of Durga Puja into a story. The film unfolds in Kolkata, which is gearing up for the pujo, and culminates on dashami (last day of Durga puja), drawing parallels between the festival’s message — the victory of good over evil — and the story, as Bidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) defeats her husband’s murderer.

Bring this up and Sujoy says, “The thought behind the sequence was to highlight the strength and will of a mother. I’m a huge fan of Maa Durga, because in this form of hers, she’s always with her children. For Bengalis around the world, she’s a mother — we equate her to a human being. In Kahaani, I wanted to depict that Maa arrives once a year, she listens to you and solves your problems. We threaded in a lot of stuff. The build up-to the story is pretty much like the build-up to Bijoya. The climax blended beautifully with the culmination of the pujos.” 

Shoojit Sircar’s Vicky Donor (2012) shows a Delhi-Punjabi boy Ayushmann Khurana (Vicky) fall in love with a Bengali girl Yami Gautam (Ashima). The two varying cultures are depicted not just in the way their families are, but Sircar also shows the celebration of Pujo by Delhi's Bengali community, as it briefly takes the audience pandal-hopping during Durga Puja in Delhi, to show the growing proximity between Vicky and Ashima. 

 

The Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Priyankar Chopra-starrer, Gunday (2014) set in the backdrop of Kolkata has a tragic scene set during Durga Puja. As the lady waits for her beloved in the Durga Puja pandal, her lover finally arrives to complete the rituals of the Puja. But the entire sequence ends up on a tragic note with Priyanka getting hit by a bullet. The movie also shows the two actors sway to beats of dhols against the backdrop of Durga puja in the song Jashn-e-Ishqa. 

Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera (2013) opens in a traditional zamindar’s baadi celebrating Durga Puja. Sonakshi Sinha, as Paakhi, is seen enjoying a jatra with her friend in the house. Here, the celebration is more of a backdrop to show how festivals were seen as symbols of power and prestige in society those days. Elaborating on it, writer Bhavani Iyer, who wrote the screenplay, shares, “I don’t think one really sets out to put a festival into the story. A lot depends on the milieu or the household you set the story in. Maa embodies vengeance and righteous anger, and if that fits into a story, then, Durga Puja could become an ideal motif. We used pujo to define the Bengal of the 1960s when zamindari was breathing its last. The jatra that Sonakshi is watching in the film, depicts her family’s power and stronghold in a fast-changing society. It was metaphoric.”

While not really having a Durga Puja scene, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s screen adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas (2002) shows Paro (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit-Nene) meeting and even dancing together. Paro is seen at Chandramukhi’s kotha, asking for mitti of her aangan to make an idol of Maa Durga for her baadi. This marks the beginning of a crucial turn in the story when Paro is forbidden from stepping out of her house. Though in the novel Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit) never meets Paro (Aishwarya Rai), the custom of ‘Punya Maati’ (soil from the lands of prostitutes), for which they meet for the first time, still prevails. Coming back to the film, the breathtaking dance-off, Dola re... between Paro and Chandramukhi is nothing less than a pure visual treat for the audiences.

Other references to Navratri / Dusshera

Raveena Tandon played a victim of marital violence in Kalpana Lajmi’s Daman (2001). Her character Durga vanquishes her patriarchal tormentor on dashami, freeing herself from bondage. The story of Akshay Kumar’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) peaks in the thick of Navratri in a village in North India. The film’s climax, which sets off on ashtami, underlining the theme of good winning over evil, shows Vidya Balan as the revengeful dancer Monjulika, who is seeking protishodh (revenge) for her lover’s death. 

In Kurukshetra (2000), Sanjay Dutt, who plays an honest cop, is seen wiping out evil politicians, while Dussehra firecrackers drown out the sound of gun-shots, symbolising the defeat of modern-day Raavans. Ram Leela, which is an integral part of Navratri celebrations, was also used effectively in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Delhi 6 (2009). While depicting the glorious celebrations at Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan, the narrative also delves into frictions within men from the neighbourhood.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades (2004) also featured a Ramleela performance by debutant Gayatri Joshi. Here, it was a philosophical discourse — a conversation between Raavan and Sita that tries to highlight the difference between the evil and good. In a face-off sequence in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja (2001), Madhuri Dixit-Nene, while playing Sita, refuses to go through an agnipariksha to prove her chastity.

More recently, Akshay Kumar, revealing his upcoming Laxmmi Bomb avatar, put out a picture with the backdrop of Maa Durga, embodying power and anger. Talking about the reducing number of instances of films using the festival as a motif, writer Bhavani Iyer says, “Kahaani was one of those films that integrated the festival so beautifully into the story. Even Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ritualistic semblance of the celebrations in Devdas was a sight. Storytelling, in the last few years, has changed. The pujas are extravagant celebrations as opposed to the lives that we lead today, which are so clinical. We’ve also begun to write our stories in a more realistic manner. That doesn’t always allow us to merge festivals and rituals with the stories.”

***

Sources:

https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/features/from-utsab-to-uma-durga-puja-in-10-bengali-films/

https://travelogueofkuntala.com/essence-of-durga-puja-in-films-indian-diaspora/

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/how-bollywood-has-infused-the-spirit-of-durga-puja-in-films/articleshow/71479715.cms

Pujor Poem

O, to be Bangali, now that Pujo is nigh,

Khabar, Kapod, Kalchar is on its annual high.

Hopping all night through random Pujo pandals,

Is best use of the newly purchased Bata sandals.

Mashimas and Kakimas ask `ebar ki notun kinley’?

Resplendent, their gorgeous sarees in full display.

Mehsos and Kakus wearing panjabi and dhuti,

Crowd around stalls selling chicken rolls and frooti.

Durga sits on her pedestal, Bijoli Grill’s orders spike,

Crowds eye the chicken rolls, it's a  surgical strike. 

Mishti of course is a must, for a Pujo without sweets,

Is like wishing the troll army would write decent tweets.

Eating mangsher chop, luchi, singara and kochuri,

Girls and boys play chokher looko choori.

Evenings are for dhak with dhoonochir natch,

Nights will be for feasting with shorse diye maachh.

Pujo is not Pujo without great cultural programs,

Natok, Robindro songit et al, `sponsored' by Seagrams.

O, to be Bangali, now that Pujo is nigh,

Go pandal hopping...eat mutton chop and fish fry.

The 60 Second Puja Parikrama - Mumbai 2010

Well, you can take the Bong out of Calcutta but come Pujos, you will never be able to take Calcutta out of the Bong.

In true Bong spirit and tradition, despite office and no chuti, I dragged some friends out Pandal hopping and we managed to visit 20 of a total of (reported) 91 Pujos held across the Maximum City - most of them by googling them up - I would love it if someone could help me with directions of some more Pujos. So please share the directions / locations of some of the ones I missed. Also, in case you want directions to any of these Pujos / hook up with me for going Pandal hopping next year, do drop me a line...

Here are my ratings:
# Best Pandal: 1. Powai 2. Chembur
# Best Protima: 1. Powai 2. Chembur
# Best Ambience: Vashi Sector 1, Vashi Sector 16 (hey I heard KK sing) and Ramkrishna Mission
# Best Lighting: Nerul
# Best Food: Mukherjee Caterers Bandra
# Best Glam: Tie between Rani Mukerjee's and Abhijeet's Puja
# Best Crowd: Tejpal Hall / Lokhandwala / DN Nagar
# Best Pujo program on the Telly: Pujo Parikrama and Dadagiri on Zee Bangla!
# Best Recommendation: From my boss to visit the Powai Puja!
# Best Company: All of my friends who made up for not having family around this Pujos - thanks guys!

Till next year then, bolo bolo Durga Ma ki... JAI! Pujo 2010

View more presentations from arka.sircar.

Shubho Bijoya

Durga Pujo 2009

Took me a long time to upload these, but here they are... do tell me what you think!

Asche Bochor Abar Hobey... Bolo Durga Mai Ki - JAI!!!

City Of A Thousand Dreams | Jayabrato Chatterjee

What is it about Kolkata that evokes the strongest reactions from visitors and residents? The traditional view of the sahibs through the nineteenth century has been one of cynicism. Currently, as far as the media in the west is concerned, everything in Kolkata is wrapped up in controversy.

Cunning black and white photographs in Western newspapers of pot-bellied and disheveled children begging off the main thoroughfares, emancipated pavement dwellers, cooking and defecating in close proximity, under-nourished sex-workers with garish make-up loitering under hazy street lights, lepers begging outside posh hotel facades and old people withering away on park benches are some time-tested and sure-shot 'hits' that have kept tongues wagging. (I often wonder what sort of perverts actually click such photographs and why? Maybe Circuit in Munnabhai MBBS had a point, y'know! Would they like it if people would click their photographs as they did their morning business or cooked or spent time with their family? The biggest loss of the poor is their right to privacy...) Wives of American Presidents, Hollywood stars and British royalty have made brief stopovers to lend their sympathy - one eye on the paparazzi's popping flashbulbs and the other cast shrewdly over their spaghetti-strapped shoulders to ensure that their entourage is taking copious notes for future press conferences. City of Joy, City of Nightmares, City of Dreadful Nights, City of Love - kolkata is anointed every day with an epithet that keeps the controversies alive and kicking. Yet, for the citizen, it is often business as usual on any given day. By and large, Kolkata finds the labels attached to it amusing and irritating by turns.

Satyajit Ray (see picture below - right) , the city's most celebrated film personality had once said that, "I don't feel very creative when I'm abroad somehow. I need to be in my chair in Calcutta!" Perhaps a little more emotionally, another eminents film director, Mrinal Sen (see picture below - left), has called Kolkata his 'Eldorado'. However, the common man takes the city for granted, just as you would your family and those you love and trust. (For me it's just home...)

Kolkata is unashamedly young. It was even supposed to have a conclusive birthday till the ruling authorities summarily stopped it from blowing out the candles on its annual anniversary cake. August 24, 1690 was acknowledged as the day when an English adventurer, Job Charnock, formally founded the city. Today, a little lost, Kolkata operates on many levels. A delicious millefeuille, rich in content and multi-layered, it needs the bite of a true Braveheart who is not embarrassed to let the jam and the cream dribble down his shirtfront. For me, the city hasall the advantages and disadvantages of any metro, anywhere in the world. I have seen unmarried girls openly beg with their babies in their arms just outside the Russel Square Underground Station in London. Old and bent bag ladies are part of the New York landscape, along with horror stories of violence and crime. Crowded shanties and dirty streets are part of Hong Kong's innate character. East European beggars infest the sidewalks in Paris. Rome is famous for its devastatingly good-looking pickpockets. And whores solicit openly, driving past in swanky cars, in Berlin. (I remember giving alms to a beggar at a tube station in London - that guy had talent! He was playing an 18 string electric guitar!)


So what is wrong with Kolkata?

Perhaps it is the images that have stayed in Western minds without people bothering to counter them. (here it West should imply the rest of the country that lies to the west of Calcutta... it is disheartening to see the sheer disdain that even other Indians have for Calcutta! Most people who are transferred here term it as a punishment posting - open your hearts people....) The city is full of contradictions and often operates on extremes. Even the weather is mostly hmid, with temperatures soaring over 40 degrees Celcius in summer. If you are not used to heavy downpours, the monsoons can be trying, with flooded roads and a sense of chaos. The
autumn months usher the city's biggest festival that venerates the Goddess Durga. Suddenly, the environment is laden with the fragrance of shiuli flowers and joss sticks. The city gets into a veritable Mardi Gras mode and children and adults worship without too much care for caste or creed. (Check my previous post for more about Durga Puja)

Wintertime, of course, is temperate and, by and large, good-natured and indulgent. Memsahibs bring out their best chiffons and jamevars and gossip over lunch. Dilettantes discuss Tagore and Che Guevara. Leftist students debate over the relevance of Chairman Mao. Artists come in droves to display their canvases at the art galleries. The annual book fair keeps the city's writers and a strange breed called 'intellectuals' in a state of perpetual animation. Classical musicians and dancers hold regular soirees. Sahibs hit the golf course from the crack of dawn. Racing regulars fight over their bets and their favourite beasts. And some of the finest partieis of the season are thrown with abandons that keep guests rollicking into the wee hours of chilly December and January mornings.

Physically the city is no beauty. Kolkata is no Suchitra Sen, the metro's very own Great Garbo. (In my opinion, the city is more like Uttam Kumar - the Clark Gable of Calcutta - universally adored and accepted) Yet, if you allow the river Hoogly to entice you on a humid monsoon evening or let some of North Kolkata's old buildings speak to you in the afternoon hush of winter, reliving old tales of gilded butterflies, you would find the exposed bricks or the chipped Portugese wrought iron balconies come alive. And, of course, it is the magic of its people - warm, wonderful and often heartbreakingly romantic - that makes the miraculous difference.

So come, celebrate the spirit of Kolkata with reserve this festive season.

---
I came across this beautiful piece in a magazine recently about the city that I shall always call home. This is written by Jayabrato Chatterjee - though I have taken the liberty of adding my two-bits (in italics) - my apologies Mr. Chatterjee. I think Mr. Chatterjee has articulated the magic of Kolkata and dispelled many misplaced myths about our Mahanagri in his article.

Jayabrato Chatterjee is a film-maker, corporate communicator and author. His debut novel Last Train to Innocence won the Hawthornden Fellowship. He was Writer-in-Residence at the University of Stirling, Scotland, in 1999. His films and documentaries have played to international audiences and he is managing editor of Kolkata’s first lifestyle magazine, Inner Eye
(where this article originally appeared). He began his career with the Hindi film Kehkasha. Jayabrato Chatterjee lives in Kolkata. His literary exploits include:
* Last Train to Innocence {1995}
* Beyond All Heavens {2003}
* Kolkata—The Dream City {2004}

Here's the article in its original form - please click on the image to zoom in...

Tradition Rules

I still have a major Puja hangover and here's some more Puja related stuff... Remember, I had talked about the traditional Durga Pujas in my earlier post Ma Aschen... ? Well, according Promita Mukherjee in The Telegraph - Graphiti on Nabami, 27th October 2009, some of Calcutta’s old, bonedi families have special signature touches for their Pujas... Watch out for the part on the "Basumallick Bari, Pataldanga" - that's my cousin Sunny's Mamar Bari! This is the one I was talking about in my post where I written "My third cousins – Bublaida and Tublaida – also have a traditional Puja in the courtyard of their ancestral home in Potoldanga in North Calcutta. I remember visiting their Puja as a child and being taken aback by the buzz and sheer activity." - Read on and enjoy!

--- Celebrating the goddess has been their passion for hundreds of years. Calcutta’s old families — once ranked at the top of the city’s social order — have converted the rituals associated with wooing the goddess into a fine art. In times when there were no baroari (community) pujos they came to be known for their opulence and extravagance as they gave the Pujas their signature touches — which they have preserved even today. Each generation passed on the baton to the next. And despite financial constraints, the families have adhered to these rites. Little wonder then, that thousands of devotees flock to catch a glimpse of the families and their rituals that were once the talking point of the town. Ghoshbari, Ghosh Lane, off Vivekananda Road Sandhipuja may be the norm for a majority of Calcuttans on Ashtami, but not for the Ghose household in Ghosh Lane off Vivekananda Road. Instead of offering Sandhipuja prayers, the family — that’s celebrating its 154th year of Puja this year — gathers for Kalyani Puja in the morning and evening. This tradition was started by the family patriarch Girish Chandra Ghose. The story goes that on this day Ghose’s guru died during Sandhipuja. “Ever since, the practice of Sandhipuja was discontinued and Kalyani Puja is held to seek the blessings of the goddess,” says Arkaprovo Ghose, a seventh-generation member of the family. Dawnbari, Darjipara If you visit Jagannath Ghat in Baghbazar on a Saptami morning to witness the Nabapatrika Snan (bathing), you’d be greeted by a quaint sight. Don’t be surprised if you come across a procession carrying Kalabou (considered by some as Lord Ganesha’s wife) under an opulent velvet umbrella that’s embellished with gold jari-work. “This is the Dashavatar umbrella that’s been part of the Dawn family Puja since its inception in 1840,” says Asim Dawn, the family head.

(From Top) The goddess takes the Abhaya form in the Laha family Puja; This ornate Dashavatar umbrella is an unique feature of the Dawn family Puja; (Pix by Shubha Bhattacharjee)

Khelat Ghosh’s House, Pathuriaghata Here, the Nabapatrika Snan ritual is held at the family natmandir and not by the Ganges, as is the usual practice. “This ritual is always held at home because the women in our family never ventured out in the past. Though times have changed, we have retained the tradition,” says Pradip Ghosh, head of the family. The family also uniquely worships Lakshmi and Saraswati as Kamala and Kamini — two other forms of Durga. During Ashtami, a math (sweetmeat) made of matha chini (a kind of sugar made in Varanasi) is symbolically sacrificed. Duttabari, Hatkhola This Puja, that dates back to 1794, does a lot of things differently. The sari that the idol wears is not a real sari and Kartik is dressed like soldier in uniform. “The clay is first given the drape of a sari and the jewellery too is created with clay and then painted upon,” says Somnath Dutta, a member of the family. Another interesting feature of this Puja is the khirer putul (a doll made of thickened milk), about 6-in to 10-in high, is sacrificed as a symbolic gesture. Lahabari At the Laha family Puja, which is conducted over three ancestral family homes in different parts of north Calcutta, the goddess takes the Shivadurga avatar or the Abhaya form. This is perhaps the only idol of its kind in all of Calcutta. In this 187-year-old Puja, the goddess is seen seated on Shiva’s lap and the bhog consists only of sweets all of which have been prepared at home.

(From top) The Nabapatrika Snan is observed at the Basumallick home; At Hatkhola Duttabari the jewellery and the clothing of the goddess is made of clay; The ekchala idol in Darjipara Mitrabari is placed on a throne; (Pix by Gautam Basumallick)

Basumallick Bari, Pataldanga The lion is perhaps one of the most interesting features of the Puja in the Basumallick home near Sealdah. For, it’s not really a lion and takes the form of an animal that has the body of a horse and the face of a dragon. An explanation is that early idol-makers referred to the description of lion in Chandimangal and gave the majestic creature their imaginative touch. “Another interesting ritual of our house is the kadamati khela in which men (from the family and visitors) participate after the symbolic sacrifice. They play with clay and mud and dance to the beat of dhaak — to commemorate the triumph of the gods over the demons,” says Ashokendra Basumallick, a member of what is considered the sixth generation of the family. 

The Thakurdalan of Basu Mullick Bari

 (https://frameperjourney.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/durga-puja/)

Mitrabari, Darjipara In the Mitra house in Darjipara in north Calcutta, the mandatory 108 lotus flowers for the Puja are replaced with as many aparajita flowers to appease the goddess. While the images of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati have beatific faces, Kartik and Asura are given human faces known as Bangla mukh. What’s more, the idols are placed on a huge throne. “On Dashami, after the boron, the women in the family take turns to seat themselves on the throne in the hope that they too will imbibe some of the goddess’ strength. For us, Durga is like the daughter of the family,” says Anasuya Biswas, a member of the family. ---

Just a small footnote. One of the most famous and traditional Pujas in Calcutta is the one at Bagbazaar (pic above) - The Bagbazaar Sarvojanin (incidentally the first Puja Pandal I visited this year - watch this space for the photos soon!) On Saptami, I met up with Arindam, my friend of 20 years from our school days at Mags (Yes, yes - I know - now we can be called CA's or Certified Alcoholics) - anyway apart from enjoying a good round of drinks while the heavens opened up, in the course of the adda, Arindam revealed that his great-great-great grandfather (Kali Kumar Sarkar) had actually started this Puja in their ancestral house in Bagbazaar before it grew to become a Sarbojanin (or Community) Puja! In fact, from his mother's side too, they have a connection with another famous Puja of North Calcutta - the one at Raja Subodh Mullick Square (his Mama - maternal uncle - is the great grandson of Raja Subodh Mullick)... quite an amazing piece of triva that!

A Divine Tale | Nabaneeta Dev Sen

I. Ma Durga comes to her Baper Bari

As a daughter, I have always loved how Durga appears in public in her full family regalia — a son and a daughter to her right, a son and a daughter to her left, nicely balanced, and a somewhat distant hubby stuck in the background somewhere. It’s so sweet of her to bring her children along to share her unbelievable pampering in her baper bari.

Particularly since these are grown up kids, with successful careers. Each is a deity in his or her own right, they don’t need to tag along with their mom. In fact, they all have their own fan following. Each even has a special day of the year marked for his or her worship.

Ganesh is particularly popular in Maharashtra and Gujarat (thanks to Bal Gangadhar Tilak), on Ganesh Chaturthi and the day of his immersion the traffic in all of Mumbai stands still for hours. On the Bengali New Year’s day he is the hero again. The god of new beginnings is worshipped in every nook and corner, especially in all the stores and markets of Bengal. He appears once again on Deepavali, the north Indian New Year, to bless the north Indian business houses. All this is serious business.

Yet, who knows how divine minds work? Though wise and powerful, the god of success Ganesh may actually envy Kartik who does not have a fraction of his public appeal, but is pampered by uninhibited sexy ladies in the red light areas of Bengal. He is also worshipped by desperate women hoping for a last chance to conceive. A bachelor and a dandy, Kartik is forever showing off his good looks, and that of his beautiful pet, quite unlike his learned brother and his pet. A regular visitor to the red light districts, Kartik is a hot favourite there. Ganesh can never beat him at that.

Then there is Lakshmi, with her insatiable hunger for idolatry. Although worshipped in most Bengali homes every Thursday, she is back right after the family visit, within a week of Bijoya Dashami, to make her own puja collections on the night of the Kojagaree Purnima. She is back again on Deepavali, seeking attention along with Kali in some Bengali homes, and with Ganesh in some “non-Bengali” shops...

Unlike her sister, Saraswati waits till spring to be surrounded by her doting young worshippers.But just as puja hungry as Lakshmi, she collects her dues at three levels on the very same day — in private homes, in schools and colleges, and in eye-catching public pandals.

Quite a mystery, this goddess of learning. Lakshmi has a wifely, domestic look in her nice red sari, and has a powerful consort, who is so busy protecting the universe that he can never accompany his wife. We know that story. She is a familiar case. But Saraswati? A scintillating virgin in lily white, how does she keep herself so youthful and glamourous, instead of looking like the sad spinster that she ought to be? Sitting the whole day — and possibly the whole night — reading, writing, painting and playing the veena all by herself. No consort, no gym, no Yoga, no jogging, no swimming, no beauty parlour, nothing at all, yet so fit and so sexy! How does she do it? Where does her oomph come from?

Well, she is passionate about privacy, and has a great security system. The paparazzi can’t get close. So her personal matters are still secret, and probably not fit for public consumption anyway.

But Ma Durga knows it all. You cannot hide anything from her, mortal or divine. Though the most powerful one — as information is power — she still needs to have her children around to feel at home. To feel like a mother rather than like a warrior, when she comes to visit her own mom in Bengal. She arrives dramatically with the sea-green buffalo demon bravely fighting at her feet, in spite of being attacked by a fierce yellow lion. Neither a daughterly nor a motherly moment, really. So the presence of grown up children have their magical use in a family album, they make even the strangest sight look normal.

Come to think of it, the image of Durga as worshipped in Bengal is indeed rather odd. At one level, it is a peaceful domestic scene on earth, with four kids and their pets accompanying mom; at another, it is an intensely divine scene, with the ferocious 10-armed Devi and her kill, the half-animal half-human demon, and a hungry lion — all inextricably framed together. Hardly the sight to please your mother. Why can’t she just bring the pleasant kids along and leave the bleeding demon behind?

Because there is the Sandhipuja to take care of on the Ashtami night. Where the killing of the demon is celebrated through mantras, drums and bells, and a special Sandhipuja arati is performed with the panchapradip and conch shells. Durga was born precisely for that auspicious moment of victory. So how could she leave the demon behind? It’s his day too!

II. Conversation between mother and daughter

— Hi, Ma! It’s Ashtami tonight, which sari are you going to wear?

— Do I have a choice? I am still wearing whatever the sculptor fellow had wrapped around me way back in Kumortuli.

— Same here! Didi and I are stuck in our red and white uniforms, our hands in fixed positions, mine fitted with a veena and Didi’s with her jhaanpi. We can’t get our hair styled at Habib’s, we have to wear it long and loose for four days and nights at a stretch, no combing, no brushing, no oiling, no shampooing. Perfect for a nightmare of tangles and split-ends.

— Won’t matter, really. I have been doing it for ages, literally, several ages, you know? And so have you! It is this globalisation that has put all this useless tension in your head.

— But Ma, style is important.

— And you have style.

— Our style has gone out of fashion now.

— Your favourite fan Rabindranath once wrote, style never gets outdated, only fashion does.

— Did he? He has written so much, Ma, I can’t keep track. But why did he say that?

— I suppose because fashion is created by others, it keeps changing. Style comes from your personality, it is what you create for yourself, it’s your own thing. Don’t you see, I may not be fashionable, but I do have style?

— So does Dad, riding his bull in his hip-hugging tiger skin, his tangled brown hair in a casual top-knot, so much neater than the Rastafarians, a free flowing river pinned to it, topped by a crescent moon at a rakish angle, snakes coiled round his neck and arms — I quite like his weird style, Ma. No fashion designer can copy it. Dad’s unique. And so cool!

— That’s why he is Debadideb Mahadeb. I had gone through endless trouble to get his attention, you know. But when I got it, I was terrified of those snakes hissing in our bed…

— Are the snakes poisonous?

— I don’t really know, my dear, but it wouldn’t matter to your Dad, with all the drugs he has taken he must be immune to snake poison by now.

— Hush, Ma, first you talk about bed, then about Dad doing drugs… let’s change the topic. I am so glad you got me a swan for a pet, and not an owl. Swans are so graceful, so elegant. I can’t stand owls, Ma. Ugly and pretentious — always flaunting an omniscient look…

— But Lakshmi wanted one, and she is quite attached to it. Some people are owl people you know?

— Trust Didi to have strange tastes.

— And Ganesh wanted the mouse. He caught it himself playing with his trunk when he was a baby, and so was the mouse. In fact it was a teeny-weeny little thing, jumping about, pink and delicate and cute…

— Not any more. It’s brown, fat and creepy.

— Nor is your brother the same, sonamoni. Pink he may still be but not delicate.

— But he is sweet, Ma, with his big tummy and one broken tusk. And he is so smart and wise.

— Smarter than our handsome young man with his fashion statement of a peacock. Once, many years ago, I was playing a game with my sons. I said, whoever circled the earth first would get…

— I know, I know, we all know that one Ma! Straightforward Kartikdada flew round the earth in a jiffy, yet lost the garland, because our clever old fatso knew the Shastras better and circled you instead. You were partial to Ganeshdada, Ma — I think he cheated.

— Where is your Didi, by the way? Haven’t seen her for quite a while…

— You know she can’t sit still, she must be making an unexpected round of the banks, or making the Sensex dance a tandava.

— You don’t like your Didi much, do you?

— Do you think Didi likes me a lot?

— Let’s drop the subject.

— Have you noticed something, Ma? Whenever you are in a fix you drop the subject. I wonder how you take care of the universe? No wonder nothing is functioning on this planet any more with Shakti herself being so weak-kneed…

— Honestly, Saras!

— And may I say something? I beg your pardon, Ma, but I often wonder how you managed to kill the demon. Was it your pet lion that did the trick? Or did the poor demon commit suicide for your sake? Mohini you sure are, Ma, looking not a day older than your daughters and far sexier, wearing your dazzling weapons like ornaments. You can keep people mesmerised, generation after generation, make them bow and pray for five days and nights without even changing your sari once. Call it your style or whatever, it works. Yes, it could kill a demon, I guess…

— Thank you, sonamoni, I am glad you have found an answer. I can hear the owl hooting, your sister can’t be far away, it’s time for us to get ready. Its Ashtami night, Sandhipuja is coming up soon, the drumbeats are changing. I have work to do, give me a few minutes. I need to concentrate.

(Illustrations by Debasish Deb)

I absolutely loved Nabaneeta Dev Sen's story in last Sunday's Graphiti (The Telegraph's Sunday Magazine) and had to share it - especially with those who are not in Calcutta for the Pujos! Here's the scanned copy if you please...