pritom ghosh
Kumartuli -Cradle of Indian Idols
Kumartuli, the nerve centre of the clay idol-makers of West Bengal, is home and workshop to more than one hundred and fifty families of clay model-makers. Criss-crossed by a maze of narrow gullies men, women, children and images of gods and goddesses, alike, have to find their way out through these dingy lanes.
Kumartuli the clay model-makers haven, is older than Calcutta, which grew out of three little villages, viz., Gobindapore, Kalikutta and Sutanooti way back in 1690. The history of the Kumartuli potter can be traced back to Krishnanagar in South Bengal. To begin with, near about the middle of the seventeenth century, potters in search of better livelihood came from Krishnanagar to Gobindapore, a prosperous village on the banks of the river Bhagirathi (now the River Hooghly), to eke out a living by making earthen ware pots, clay toys and cooking utensils for household use. When the land at Gobindapore was required by the British East India company for building Fort William, the inhabitants migrated further up the river to Sutanooti. The potters moved in to their new destination, colonized a vast area and named it Kumartuli, the term "Kumar" meaning a potter and "tuli" a locality. The Bengal Consultations, a journal of 1707 AD, gives an account of the presence of Kumars who occupied 75 acres of land in Sutanooti, which is a constituent part of present day north Calcutta.
The Durga Puja festival in autumn was an annual event in the homes of wealthy aristocrats. Potters came all the way from Krishnanagar, braving the perils of a river voyage, to mould the images of the gods and goddesses for the Durga Puja festival. By about the end of the eighteenth century, as the ways of the rich inspired the commoner, the annual worship of goddess Durga gained popularity. In 1790, as recorded in the Friend of India (now The Statesman), a dozen Brahmins formed the first ever committee to celebrate Durga Puja in Calcutta. They collected money in the form of a punitive tax (subscription), had the image of the deity made at Kumartuli and organized the first ever community Durga Puja festival. As the trend caught on, making images of gods and goddesses became a lucrative livelihood for the potter-turned-artisan.
Just where history ends and legend begins no one is quite sure. Kumartuli's clay model-makers claim their descent from people who made images of Durga for Maharaja Krishna Chandra of Krishnanagar. However, many historians are of the opinion that the ancestors of the artisans were potters who had drifted in during the days of the Raj but the power of legend still overwhelms the ordinary visitor.
Kumartuli, densely populated, is a hive of activity from June to the end of January as artisans get busy making scores of images for the annual autumnal festival. A potters colony ever since its inception and a model-makers haven now, it is the home of the finest clay-artisans in India.
Nearly eighty per cent of the community puja images in Calcutta are made at Kumartuli by lesser known artisans, who strive to make something new and innovative in their sphere of endeavour.
Making an image of a deity is a routine affair for an artisan at Kumartuli and they seldom use tools. To begin with, a skeleton of the figure is made first with small wooden planks and strips of bamboo. It stands on a wooden pedestal. The deity is roughly shaped with straw and tied with jute strands. It is one of the most significant steps in the art of clay model-making, as the final shape of the image depends on how well the straw dummy is conceived. A thick coating of blackish clay, mixed with rice husk is applied over the dummy. It is left to dry for a couple of days in the sun. A compound of sand-clay and jute fibre is smeared over the first coating and the surface is smoothed with a piece of wet cloth.
source :India profile
Explored #495
sept 8, 2010
Kumartuli -Cradle of Indian Idols
Kumartuli, the nerve centre of the clay idol-makers of West Bengal, is home and workshop to more than one hundred and fifty families of clay model-makers. Criss-crossed by a maze of narrow gullies men, women, children and images of gods and goddesses, alike, have to find their way out through these dingy lanes.
Kumartuli the clay model-makers haven, is older than Calcutta, which grew out of three little villages, viz., Gobindapore, Kalikutta and Sutanooti way back in 1690. The history of the Kumartuli potter can be traced back to Krishnanagar in South Bengal. To begin with, near about the middle of the seventeenth century, potters in search of better livelihood came from Krishnanagar to Gobindapore, a prosperous village on the banks of the river Bhagirathi (now the River Hooghly), to eke out a living by making earthen ware pots, clay toys and cooking utensils for household use. When the land at Gobindapore was required by the British East India company for building Fort William, the inhabitants migrated further up the river to Sutanooti. The potters moved in to their new destination, colonized a vast area and named it Kumartuli, the term "Kumar" meaning a potter and "tuli" a locality. The Bengal Consultations, a journal of 1707 AD, gives an account of the presence of Kumars who occupied 75 acres of land in Sutanooti, which is a constituent part of present day north Calcutta.
The Durga Puja festival in autumn was an annual event in the homes of wealthy aristocrats. Potters came all the way from Krishnanagar, braving the perils of a river voyage, to mould the images of the gods and goddesses for the Durga Puja festival. By about the end of the eighteenth century, as the ways of the rich inspired the commoner, the annual worship of goddess Durga gained popularity. In 1790, as recorded in the Friend of India (now The Statesman), a dozen Brahmins formed the first ever committee to celebrate Durga Puja in Calcutta. They collected money in the form of a punitive tax (subscription), had the image of the deity made at Kumartuli and organized the first ever community Durga Puja festival. As the trend caught on, making images of gods and goddesses became a lucrative livelihood for the potter-turned-artisan.
Just where history ends and legend begins no one is quite sure. Kumartuli's clay model-makers claim their descent from people who made images of Durga for Maharaja Krishna Chandra of Krishnanagar. However, many historians are of the opinion that the ancestors of the artisans were potters who had drifted in during the days of the Raj but the power of legend still overwhelms the ordinary visitor.
Kumartuli, densely populated, is a hive of activity from June to the end of January as artisans get busy making scores of images for the annual autumnal festival. A potters colony ever since its inception and a model-makers haven now, it is the home of the finest clay-artisans in India.
Nearly eighty per cent of the community puja images in Calcutta are made at Kumartuli by lesser known artisans, who strive to make something new and innovative in their sphere of endeavour.
Making an image of a deity is a routine affair for an artisan at Kumartuli and they seldom use tools. To begin with, a skeleton of the figure is made first with small wooden planks and strips of bamboo. It stands on a wooden pedestal. The deity is roughly shaped with straw and tied with jute strands. It is one of the most significant steps in the art of clay model-making, as the final shape of the image depends on how well the straw dummy is conceived. A thick coating of blackish clay, mixed with rice husk is applied over the dummy. It is left to dry for a couple of days in the sun. A compound of sand-clay and jute fibre is smeared over the first coating and the surface is smoothed with a piece of wet cloth.
source :India profile
Explored #495
sept 8, 2010