Streetwise Kolkata: Why an 18th-century bathing ghat is essential to Kumartuli’s operations

From Ganesha to Biswakarma and Maa Durga, its now the busiest meoment of the season. But Bengalis are now shifted their inclination towards Ganesha. (Express Shashi Ghosh)

In his book ‘Kalighat Painting: Images from a Changing World’, author Jyotindra Jain writes that Kumartuli started as a settlement in the 18th century (1701-1800) in north Calcutta solely for the use of the artisans who shaped deities out of clay, making it among the oldest neighbourhoods in the city.

“One of the lesser known versions of the origins of Kumartuli is that it existed in the village of Gobindapur before being mentioned as a thana (police station) in Sutanuti almost thirty years after the Battle of Plassey in 1757,” write authors Samir Kumar Das and Bishnupriya Basak in their book ‘The Making of Goddess Durga in Bengal: Art, Heritage and the Public’. Sutanuti and Gobindapur were the two villages that along with Kalikata, were combined to eventually form the city of Calcutta.

Traditionally, Bengalees are worshippers of Lord Biswakarma more than Lord Ganesha. But, this is myth now a days. (Express Photo Shashi Ghosh)

The first patrons of the artisans of Kumartuli were the wealthy zamindar families of Kolkata who engaged artisans to create idols of primarily the goddess and her family for their private worship within their urban palaces. Over time, however, that changed as the nature of worship of deities became more inclusive and community-oriented, increasing the demand for the craft of the artisans of Kumartuli.

Old names of the neighbourhood and its environs include ‘Kumartoolee ka rustha’, writes P Thankappan Nair in his book ‘A History of Calcutta’s Streets’, but the author mentions that in some old directories of the city, it is also referred to as ‘Bulloram Mozumdar’s Street’. In his book, Nair gives some insight into the Mazumdar family associated with this neighbourhood: “Ram Chandra Ghose, a Kayastha, came from Akna, a village adjacent to Hooghly, and settled at Kumartooli in Sutanuti, Calcutta. He served under one of the Nawabs of Murshidabad, and received the title ‘Mazumdar’- hence the family is known as the old Mazumdar family of Kumartooli, Calcutta…..This family had all along a Bathing Ghat, near Kumartooli, known as Balaram Mazumdar’s Ghat,” Nair writes.

While visiting Kumartuli, Lord Ganesha’s unfinsished idols are found more than Biswakarma idols. (Express Photo Shashi Ghosh)

However, the author mentions that this ghat does not find mention in British lithographer Mark Wood’s Map of Calcutta of 1784, in which almost all of the city’s bathing ghats have been identified. In the book ‘Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History’, author Krishna Dutta implies that it is this ghat, located at the back of Kumartuli, from where the artisans collect the mud that is essential in their craft, a practice essential to their craft that is continued to this day.

While a significant part of the Kumartuli neighbourhood is associated with the artisans who have lived there for generations, it is a misconception that it was a neighbourhood only associated with them. Das and Basak write in their book that “it was a locality not only settled by the potters, but also inhabited by the wealthy elites”, remnants of which are found in the mansions and structures that they left behind here.

Ganesha Puja is scheduled to be held on 2nd September. Before that Kumartuli para is all about Lord Ganesha (Express Photo Shashi Ghosh)

But like in other parts of the city, change is visible in Kumartuli; not just in the neighbourhood’s architecture but also in the lives of its residents. The job of making idols of deities is no longer restricted just to men. Change has come in the form of the women of Kumartuli who have ignored social regulations and pressures to work in and excel in a traditionally male-dominated profession. Then there are changes that have come even to the idols themselves: it is not uncommon to find artisans at work in their workshops using materials like fibreglass, metal etc, previously difficult to associate with the art of idol-making.

Although traditionally the artisans of Kumartuli and their work have been associated with the autumn festival of Durga Puja, they work throughout the year, creating sculptures of the deities for the many festivals in the Hindu calendar.

While many traditional crafts have been struggling to survive, the idol-makers of Kumartuli have no time to entertain those fears: a Kolkata without its goddess Durga and the Durga Puja festival is unthinkable.