Clay Images of West Bengal

The earliest mention of a group of artists being commissioned to make clay images is perhaps in the Maharastha Purana a Bengali poem by Gangarama about the effects of the invasions of the Maratha Bargis in the 18th c. Between 1740 and 1750 Bengal was faced with invasions from these Bargis from Maharashtra who caused widespread damage in the Nadia district and parts of Murshidabad in western Bengal. In the poem there is a confrontation between the forces of Nawab Alivardi Khan and those of the Marathas under its general Bhaskara. Bhaskara decides to perform Durga puja to ensure victory and he summons all the zemindars to tell them of his intentions. When they hear this the zemindars order image makers (kumars) to prepare the image of Durga. They duly make this image and depart. The Nawab and his army attack before Durga puja can be completed and the Maratha general is forced to flee only having completed saptami and astami (the seventh and eighth days of the puja) leaving the image behind with all the offerings. Bhaskara is said to flee in the month of Asvina. He returns again in the month of Chaitra ready for battle and tells his troops to kill all in sight. The goddess Durga is enraged because Bhaskara failed to complete her puja and tells her bhairavis or female attendants to be hostile towards Bhaskara and gracious towards the Nawab. Durga leaves and Bhaskara is killed in battle.

The story is interesting because it shows that kumars were hired to make images for the annual autumnal Durga puja festival in Asvina in the 18th c if not before. Although the Marathas would have not have used an image for their Dasara celebrations Gangarama is more likely to be referring to the practice amongst the Bengali zemindars at the time of hiring kumars to make their images for them. It was probably one of these zemindars or petty raja who inaugurated the lavish style Durga puja that is common in Bengal today. There are various suggestions about who this might have been. One suggestion is Raja Kamsanarayana of Tahirpur, another Raja Danujamardana and another Raja Krishnanchandra of Nadia who is the most popular candidate. K.M.Varma suggests a zemindar from Baduriya.

The tradition of clay image making became established during the 18th-19th centuries as a distinctive feature of Bengali culture. Today, artists work in Kumartuli in the north of Calcutta but also travel as far afield as Assam in order to make a living and a centre of clay image making has grown up in the south of the city around Kalighat near the great Kali temple.

There are about 200 studios in Kumartuli which serve as both workplace and home. An average studio is a 'fenced-off' space with an earthen floor. The walls are often wooden boards held together with rope. Tin and matting make up the roof. Electric lighting is minimal, and the bulbs are low wattage. Most of the kumars sit on the floor to work with the odd wooden stool or chair for customers and other visitors. During festival time the alleyways of Kumartuli are packed with images drying in the sun. It is cramped and poorly-drained and a relatively small area in the north of the city.

The potters who make these images are called kumars and they often have the surname Pal or Paul. Their work is seasonal and they use clay from local rivers such as the Hooghly in Calcutta or from Uluberia, a village nearby. Their patrons are wealthy families, individuals, clubs and businesses and they work to commission as well as selling images on the open market. For larger images such as those of Durga, a variety of artists contribute their skills to the completed image including the mali who does the decorations and the patua who paints the backdrop or chal chitra.

This plate by the Belgian artist Solvyns working for the British East India Company between 1791-1803 represents a Durga image belonging to one of the wealthy Bengali families living in Calcutta at the time. Here Brahmin priests are shown performing puja in front of the image while members of the family look on. The image is placed in a specially made thakur dalan which is a building within the courtyard of the family home specially made for Durga puja.

The traditional style of Durga image can still be seen today, for example in the Durga image belonging to the family of Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia.

This image belonging to the descendant of Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia maintains a style that dates back to the 18th c. Traditional images like this can still be found in the private houses of aristocratic families in Calcutta. They are placed in thakur dalans which are purpose built, arched structures within the main courtyard of the house. Often such images are made in the house by the kumars and keep the traditional style that is particular to that household more.

This painting by Thomas Daniell shows an immersion ceremony taking place along one of the elaborate ghats or quaysides on the Ganges. In the centre of the painting a Durga image is about to be dropped into the river between two boats. Musicians are playing. Behind, an immersed Durga image slowly sinks into the water. On the top right two similar images are being carried in procession down the steps of the ghat by bearers. Crowds line the ghat. The figure in white seated on the shaded throne in the boat nearby on the left is possibly the Maharaja of Burdwan.

Rural or folk art in West Bengal is a story of adaptation and innovation. Traditional art forms that are passed on from generation to generation such as clay image making have to fit in with customer demands and changes in society. At times the livelihood of the artists is placed under threat which means that art forms may die out and be forgotten as younger generations abandon traditional methods and commercial pressures force artists out of business. Clay image making is a distinctive form of Bengali art that deserves to survive. It has been around since medieval times and is intimately bound up with the lives of villagers throughout West Bengal.

The history of Kumartuli

Early accounts of clay image making in Bengal