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Kumartuli – the first visit
Read MoreOn the morning of my second day in India, I had the great fortune to make my first trip to Kumartuli, which is a neighborhood of image-makers that is located slightly north of the center of Kolkata. Leading the way was the delightful Partha Dey, a Kolkata native and visual artist who was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Iowa a few years ago.
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Kumartuli – the second and third visits
Read MoreWith great excitement, I returned to Kolkata at the end of the first week of September, specifically to observe Dilipda and his assistants in the next stages of work on their Durga Puja sculptures at the Shovabazar Rajbari. In the above photo, Dilipda’s assistant, Netal Pal, is adding the second layer of smooth clay to this roughed-out […]
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Just a few more pandals…..
Read MoreThis post is a gallery of Durga Puja pandal image highlights from our explorations of Kolkata pandals throughout the following three days of the holiday. We admired some pandals for the beauty and creativity of their designs, and others for the mindbogglingly extensive craftsmanship that was required for their creation! A South Kolkata pandal decorated entirely using braided […]
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Immersions – Tradition and the Environment
Read MoreTraditionally, Durga Puja ends with the immersion of the pandal images into a stream or river. Once again, good has triumphed over evil, and Ma Durga and her children return to Mount Kailash and Durga’s consort, Lord Shiva. Thousands and thousands of images are submerged each year! There are serious environmental concerns in Kolkata regarding the dumping of so much debris (not […]
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A Dentist to Lions
Read MoreDilipda is preparing no less than five images for Jagadhatri Puja, which is celebrated throughout West Bengal and parts of Odissa about one week after Kali Puja (late October to early November) and exactly one month after Durga Puja. Jagadhatri is considered to be a calm incarnation of Durga. She is known as the “Holder of […]
