Pujo Gyan
Ma Durga's Family and the Idol
Stand in front of any Bengali pandal and you will see the whole family on one stage. Here is who is who, what each one rides, and how the idol is made.
Who stands where
Ma Durga is at the centre on her lion, ten-armed, spearing Mahishasura. On her right (your left as you face her) stand Lakshmi and then Ganesh; on her left (your right), Saraswati and then Kartik. Above, in the painted arch, Shiva often looks down from Kailash.
Ma Durga · lion
The mother goddess, power (shakti) itself. Her lion, given by Himavan, stands for strength and courage. In many old Bengali family idols the lion has a horse-like face.
Lakshmi · owl
Goddess of wealth and good fortune. Bengalis worship her again at home on Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, the full moon after Dashami.
Ganesh · mouse
Remover of obstacles, worshipped first in every ritual. Beside him stands the Kola Bou, a banana plant draped in a red-bordered sari.
Saraswati · swan
Goddess of learning, music and the arts, holding a veena. Students worship her on Basant Panchami.
Kartik · peacock
The handsome warrior, commander of the gods' army, with bow and arrow. Shown as a dashing young man with a curled moustache.
Mahishasura · buffalo
The demon, half-emerged from the buffalo's body, sword raised, at the instant of defeat. He stands for arrogance and the ego.
Kola Bou (Nabapatrika)
The 'banana bride' next to Ganesh is popularly called his wife, but she is really the Nabapatrika: nine plants tied together, each standing for a form of the goddess. On Saptami morning she is bathed in the river, dressed in a red-bordered white sari and installed in the pandal. The nine plants are banana (kola), colocasia (kochu), turmeric (haldi), jayanti, bel (wood apple), pomegranate (dalim), ashoka, arum (maan kochu) and rice paddy (dhan).
The parts of the idol
- Ekchala
- The traditional style: the whole family under one single arched frame. Still the rule in most bonedi bari (old family) pujas.
- Chalchitra
- The painted arch behind the idols, traditionally showing Shiva, the gods and scenes from the Puranas.
- Daker saaj
- Ornaments of silver-white foil on shola. The name is often said to come from 'dak' (post), because the foil once came by mail from abroad.
- Sholar saaj
- Ornaments carved from shola pith, the soft white core of a marsh plant, by the malakar craftspeople of Bengal.
- Chokkhu daan
- Painting the goddess's eyes, the last and most important stroke, traditionally done on Mahalaya.
How Kumartuli builds a goddess
Most of Kolkata's idols are shaped in Kumartuli, the potters' quarter on the Hooghly in north Kolkata, where families of mritshilpi (clay artists) have worked for generations. Work starts months ahead, often on Rath Yatra day, with the kathamo: a frame of bamboo and wood bound with straw.
- Straw is tied over the frame to give the body its shape.
- A first layer of sticky clay is pressed on, then a fine layer of river silt for a smooth skin. By tradition the clay includes Ganga mud and a handful of earth from the doorsteps of the nishiddho palli, the city's red-light area: a reminder that the goddess belongs to everyone.
- Heads and hands are cast separately in moulds and attached.
- The idol dries in the sun, cracks are filled, and it is painted, dressed and decorated.
- Last of all, the eyes are painted (chokkhu daan), and the idol leaves for its pandal on a truck, to the sound of the dhak.