Durga puja from 1799

Aquatint of Durga puja from 1799 by Francois Solvyns

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.

Traditional Durga image belonging to the Rajkumar 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.

Immersion scene by Thomas Daniell 1810

(courtesy of the Victoria Memorial Museum, Calcutta)

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.

Immersion of Nadia Raj image

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.