Kumartuli is a quarter of narrow lanes in north Kolkata where potters have made clay idols since the eighteenth century. The name means potters’ quarter. Clay comes off the Hooghly at Kumartuli Ghat, is mixed with straw, rice husk and jute fibre, built over a bamboo frame, dried, painted, and dressed.
Work begins around Rath Yatra in June or July with the structure, and the lanes are at their most extraordinary in the fortnight before Puja when hundreds of finished idols stand waiting for collection. Kumartuli idols are shipped to Bengali communities across India and abroad.
One tradition worth knowing: the clay for the idol traditionally includes punya mati, earth taken from outside the house of a sex worker, which the priest asks for. The custom is old and is still observed in many workshops.
The names
Places, pujas and people, with what each one is| Name | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Kumartuli lanes1700s | Banamali Sarkar Street, Abhay Mitra Street, north Kolkata | The workshops themselves, open-fronted; several run by the same families for five or six generations. |
| Kumartuli Ghat | on the Hooghly | Where the clay comes ashore. The bank silt is what the idols are built from. |
| Chokkhu Daan | in the workshops, Mahalaya | The painting of the eyes, done on Mahalaya, about a week before the Puja. It is the moment the idol is considered to come alive. |
| The sholapith and ornament makers | Kumartuli | Crowns, weapons, jewellery and the daker saj ornament that dresses the idol. |
| Kumartuli Park Sarbojanin1933 | Kumartuli | The quarter’s own community puja. |
| Kumartuli Sarbojanin1930s | Kumartuli | The other puja in the lanes. |
| Women idol makers | Kumartuli | A small number of women now work at the bench, which is recent; China Pal is the best known. |
| Export workshops | Kumartuli | Idols shipped to Bengali associations in London, New Jersey, Dubai and Sydney. |
Worth knowing
- August to early October is the season. Outside it the lanes are quiet.
- Mahalaya, about a week before the Puja, is when the eyes are painted.
- It is a workplace. Ask before photographing a craftsman at the bench.
- The week before Puja the lanes are almost impassable with finished idols.
- Sovabazar-Sutanuti metro is the nearest station; go on foot from there.
More on Durga Puja
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