The Dream merchants of Kumortuli

 Goddess Durga

When the rains are over and the nature is still damp and dripping, the festival season starts in India. The festivals in India are based on religious occasions. The season starts with Ganesh Chaturthi. It is believed that if someone takes the blessing of Lord Ganesh before starting anything new, the work is accomplished smoothly.

After Ganesh Chaturthi, comes the time for Durga Puja. As per mythology, Devi Durga along with her four children Lakshmi,Ganesh, Karthik and Saraswati comes to earth from Mount Kailash during this time.



The Demon Lord Mahishasur

Devi Durga also comes with demon lord Mahishasur. The Goddess is in a stance of battle where the demon lord is defeated. This depicts the defeat of wrong doer in the hands of the protector of human kind.
  
This is a five days long festival. Big clay idols of the Deities are worshipped and then immersed. These five days, Kolkata alongwith all other districts of West Bengal get in the mood of festivities which most often takes the proportion of cult celebration.


Painting the eye

Nestled in the northern fringes of Kolkata, lies India's only potters' town Kumortuli. Here hundreds of Potters families live and make the clay idols. This town has a history of half a century when about 250 Kumars (makers of clay image) started this town; some of these Kumars trace their family history before Job Charnock, the agent of British India Company, who founded Kolkata.



An artisan lost in his work

The centuries old tradition-bound studios of the idol makers add life to the idols over a very slow and tedious process when they make an idol from the lump of clay and ceremoniously add life by creating the eyes that mutely tell volumes of life divine. The finishing touch to the eyes, 
known  as "Chokhhu Daan" (gifting of eyes) in Bengali, is done by the expert or the oldest "Kumar" of the family.


I still remember my childhood days when I used to visit the houses of Kumars where the potters used to give shapes to the dreams. It was quite mesmerising to see a fistful of straw and mass 
of clay slowly turn into a perfectly formed figure. The child used to get  awestruck and sometimes forget the world around.
              

The magic of paint brush

Yes, there had been many times when my mother used to hunt me from there when I failed to reach home on time.

The best part, however was painting of eyes. A few strokes (right at the first time, no correction allowed or possible) would bring life into the idols; a fascinating sight and incredible experience.  But the most intriguing part was painting of the third eye of the Goddess. Sometimes the artisan would sit in meditation for hours and then suddenly in one swift stroke of his paint brush, it would be done.


An idol of Devi Durga with family, under preparation

Memories come crowded even today when I think of Durga Puja in the childhood days. Those days used to be so special. With each passing days, the excitement used to get intensified and finally it would touch the high during those five days. The community Puja pandal in the locality used to be the centre of attraction for everyone. There used to be nothing great, but everythging used to be Special for us in those five days.

After so many years when I look back, I fail to understand why there was so much of excitement then and why there is nothing similar to that, now. May be it was the childhood and the magic of dreams in those eyes; or may be something else.

But the real dream merchants were those Kumars who use to bring Devi Durga in her battle along with her full family, on the earth. Even now when I am writing this, the Kumars are burning midnight oil and weaving dreams in their studios..... because Durga Puja is just around the corner.