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Their hands give shape to the countless idols of Durga seen during the Puja festival. Kumartuli has been home to these artisans for two centuries.
Shoma A. Chatterji
writes about the place and the people who have been battling against heavy odds to keep a tradition alive
ON Chaitra Sankranti, the last day of the Bengali year, the 527 families and 300 artisans who, by heredity, are marked out as idol sculptors of Kumartuli, perform a ritual puja before putting their hands on dry bamboo sticks to form the first skeleton of the first Durga idol that will come out of the workshed before the Durga Puja festival. Kumartuli is the largest hub of Durga idols on the outskirts of Kolkata. The smell of wet clay from the Ganges and other rivers, the dry crackling of straw beneath one’s feet, the criss-cross patterns of bamboo spread out within the narrow confines of a ramshackle, eight-by-eight (8x8) studio, blend seamlessly to create the traditional homes of the artisans where Goddess Durga takes ‘birth.’ The name "Kumortuli" is derived from the original Bengali word ‘kumore’ derived from the purer word kumbhakaar, standing for artisans who work with metals to make vessels and utensils. With the passage of time, it has corrupted itself to Kumartuli. Western literature references to the Pals as ‘kumars’ are wrong. ‘Tuli’ is a Bengali word that roughly translates as ‘a small space’ or a ‘place’ where the potters stay. Thus, the name ‘Kumartuli’ actually means the place where ‘kumars’ live. The Bengal Consultations, a 1707 AD journal, gives an account of the presence of ‘kumores’ or kumbhakaars. These artisans occupied 75 acres in Sutanooti. "Utensils made of brass, steel or aluminum did not exist at the time and ours was the only ethnic group that made clay utensils. But when the landed gentry and aristocratic families of Calcutta began decorating their spacious homes taking a cue from the British, these craftsmen were brought to Calcutta to sculpt models of fairies, angels and ancestors. Seven generations of my family are interwoven into seven generations of the history of the Marble Palace. For many years, we held salaried jobs at the Marble Palace as sculptors involved in repairing and maintaining the idols and other clay artifacts," says septuagenarian Ganesh Chandra Pal. Kumartuli grew out of three little villages — Gobindapore, Kalikutta and Sutanooti — way back in 1690. The history of Kumartuli potters can be traced back to Krishnanagar in South Bengal. This version says that potters came from Krishnanagar to Gobindapore, a prosperous village on the banks of Bhagirathi river (now Hooghly), around the middle of the 17th century in search of a better livelihood by making earthenware pots, toys and cooking utensils for household use. When the East India Company took over the land to build Fort William at Gobindapore, the inhabitants migrated further up the river to Sutanooti to their new destination and colonised a vast area there and named it Kumartuli. The tradition of clay idol-making began during the 18th century. Another centre for producing Durga idols has come up in the southern part of the city near the Kalighat temple. It is called Poto Para, Poto means artists who work with clay and para stands for neighbourhood. The artisans claim to be descendants of people who made images of Durga for Maharaja Krishna Chandra of Krishnanagar. Some historians opine that the ancestors of the artisans were potters who had drifted during the days of the Raj. According to another story, it was Raja Nabakrishna Deb who brought the Pals to Calcutta. He wanted to celebrate Durga Puja in honour of the victory of the British in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. He is said to have summoned a young member of a Pal family from Krishnanagar to make the clay image for his puja. Several other well-to-do families, too, wanted to follow the Raja’s example and very soon the Pals were inundated with work. But as these artisans had to travel from Krishnanagar, they asked for permanent residence in Calcutta and thus Kumartuli was established in the north of Calcutta as a centre of clay art. Ramesh Chandra Pal is one of the most talented veterans of Kumartuli known not only for his creations of the goddess and other deities, but also for life-like reproductions of great personalities like Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Subhas Chandra Bose and Bidhan Chandra Roy. Having been in the business of sculpting figures of gods and men for six decades now, Ramesh Chandra is respected as one of the best in the trade. "The trend to separate the goddess from her children began in the 1930s. Before this, the Mother Goddess along with her children was placed against the backdrop of a single chalchitra. Gopeswar Pal, one of our predecessors, introduced a theatrical ambience by adding features like a natural landscape, replicas of rivers, mountains or woods in the background. But I felt a lack of compactness and cohesion in this concept, so I tried to reassemble the goddess with her family on the same pedestal. I don’t believe in innovation at the cost of practical matters and aesthetic value," explains Ramesh Chandra, a graduate from the Government Art College, Kolkata. He would visit the Alipore Zoological Gardens to study the movements of a lion, take pictures from various angles, to capture the precise movements of the animal to be replicated as Durga’s vahana. But he does not encourage young artists to step into this trade "if it is money and security they are looking for." But his son has followed in his footsteps. Ganesh Chandra Pal is back on his feet after a stroke that paralysed one side of his body. He supervises the work of his artisans, as one draws him out to recount the history of his life. "My father Jatin Pal, was the chief artist at the Marble Palace. I like to be known as Bhaskar Ganesh Pal, ‘bhaskar’ meaning sculptor. I passed out from the Indian Art College, which was then run under the Lalit Kala Akademi, with a first class in 1961. My sons, nephews and all men in the family are Art College graduates. Among our ancestors was Jadu Pal. We are told that the then-Governor would arrive at Krishnanagar, our ancestral place, and literally wait for him at his house to invite him to Calcutta. Jadu Pal taught at the Art College many years ago." Ashok Pal, 50, is differently abled from birth. His two hands are shorter than normal, the palms are almost non-existent and his fingers are misshapen. He cannot work without help. Yet, his creations of Durga are fascinating in their aesthetic richness. "I used to shape clay models as a child and sold them in the market. This did not satisfy me. I began to follow my father and work on bigger idols." Ashok is self-educated because he never went to school. "The only problem I face is when I must work seated on a scaffolding to work on the upper part of an idol. It takes me longer than it would take a physically fit man. It is sad that the government is interested in focusing on high-profile fine arts but not on cottage and traditional crafts like idol-making in Kumartuli." He is responsible for the upkeep of his family and the workers who work for him. Faced with financial hardship, these artisans barely manage to make both ends meet. An average studio in Kumartuli is merely a ‘fenced-off’ space whose earthen floor is not even paved. The walls are in reality a fencing of two wooden boards held together with rope, or in some other style. Tin and matting are some of the materials used in constructing the roof. Electric lighting is minimal, and the bulbs are of low wattage. The artisans squat on the floor to work, and the odd wooden stool or chair is meant for customers and visitors. Clay, the principal raw material, is brought by boat down the Hooghly river from Uluberia, a village near Calcutta. This clay is notable for its glutinous property, which is ideal for making images. Idols of Durga crafted out of thermocol or shola came in existence almost 40 years ago when the era of sponsorship from corporate houses started infusing the festival with the spirit of competition. This set off a trend in experimentation with other media such as wood, coins, fiberglass, metal, and so on. Today, there are around 250 workshops in Kumartuli with 2,000 workers working round-the-clock two months before the Puja. Most of these artisans work on monthly salaries, which rise and fall seasonally. For family idols, work begins on the first day of the Rath Yatra. The field remains male-dominated with very few women practicing the trade. Four women who are into this cottage craft are — China Pal, Namita Pal, Shibani Pal and Shipra Ghodui. Namita is based in Potopara near Kalighat, China lives and works in Kumartuli and Shipra and Shibani have their work units in Andul. Each Durga ‘family’ takes around two months to complete and can cost anything from Rs 5,000 to 1.50 lakh. Orders from abroad have to be completed and shipped by April-May mainly through reputed couriers. They are packed in cupboard-shaped boxes made of ply. "I was the first among the Kumartuli artists to visit the USA in 1970 followed by two trips to London a month before the Pujas," says Ganesh Chandra Pal. The rising price and declining supply of raw materials, constant and frequent power cuts, lack of space, lack of working capital and labour problems plague the lives of all idol-makers in Kumartuli. "I generally take orders from 20 parties every year, and sometimes it crosses this mark. But the only way I can raise funds to begin my work is by taking loans from friends and relatives. I ran up a loan of Rs 45, 000 in 2004 and my nephews chipped in. Otherwise, I would have been in the red," says Shibani Pal. Forty-year-old Namita Pal says that labour rates have increased. "But I cannot turn them down even when they are charging Rs 300 per day for work on a Durga idol because a handful of labourers have almost turned into a part of my family," she says. Yet, they keep slogging. "Every year, I tell myself, this is the last time I will do business in clay idols. I will have to find out something else next year with the expertise, experience and skill that I have gained. But as January approaches and orders for Saraswati idols begin pouring in, I forget the resolution and get caught up in the web of orders, creation and tension," says Shibani. Nemai Chandra Pal. An artisan has to invest Rs 5 lakh a year to earn Rs 80,000, which is less than Rs 7, 000 a month. He finds it difficult to sustain his family with this meager sum. The state government’s promise to rehabilitate these gifted artisans is yet to see the light of the day. Around three years ago, Sudhangshu Sil, MP, had promised a ‘modern’ Kumartuli spread across an area of five acres. This plot of land would house a sophisticated auditorium that would serve as a studio for the artisans and their assistants. Promises were made about offering housing to the workers and a place where their work could be preserved and archived. In 2005, Minister for Urban Development of West Bengal had assured them that work on the project would begin soon. A miniature model of the projected Rs 40-crore plan was also constructed. But, nothing happened for a long while. The plan almost collapsed at a joint meeting between representatives of Kumartuli associations and the state government. This happened when each family of idol makers was asked to shell out a sum of Rs 30, 000 for a new home and a studio. The rehabilitation project of the Kumartuli idol makers will cost over Rs 27 crore. Fifty per cent of the total funding for the two-year project will come from the Centre’s National Urban Renewable Mission (NURM) scheme. HUDCO has been assigned to take care of the project on behalf of the Centre. Of the remaining, 38 per cent will come from the state government and the state government representatives suggested that the artisans themselves would cough up 12 per cent, amounting to around Rs 1.3 crore. But the idol makers have voiced their dissent. "It is better that we stay and work where we have been living and working for many years than shell out this sum when we find it difficult even to keep our business going," says Babu Pal, General Secretary, Kumartuli Mritshilpo Sanksriti Samity. "We live in pathetic conditions and have lived thus for the past 200 years, Wet monsoons and scorching summers make it very difficult for the artisans to work in matchbox-sized studios." The idol makers made peace when they were assured that this amount would be raised from an international organisation, namely, the UK-based Department of International Development. Nothing, however, seems to have happened till now. Like farmers, the country’s artisans, too, are left out of the economic boom.
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