ওয়াশিংটন বাংলা রেডিও Washington Bangla Radio USA

Kumortuli (also spelt Kumartuli, or the archaic spelling Coomartolly) is a traditional potters’ quarter in northern Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta), the capital of the east Indian state of West Bengal. By virtue of their artistic productions these potters have moved from obscurity to prominence. This Kolkata neighbourhood, not only supplies clay idols of Hindu gods and goddesses to barowari(general public) pujas in Kolkata and its neighbourhood, but a number of idols are exported to USA, UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Canada and even the Far-East.

Before we walk the narrow by-lanes of this area, let us delve into the history of idol making in Bengal, especially Kumortuli in North Kolkata.

The British colonization of Bengal and India started following the victory of the British East India Company in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The Company decided to build a new settlement; Fort William at the site of the Gobindapur village. Most of the existing population shifted to Sutanuti. While such neighborhoods as Jorasanko and Pathuriaghata became the centres of the local rich, there were other areas that were developed simultaneously.

[1] The villages of Gobindapur, Sutanuti and Kalikata developed to give rise to the metropolis we know as - Calcutta.

Holwell, a temporary Governor-General of Bengal in 1760, under orders from the Directors of the British East India Company, allotted ‘separate districts to the Company’s workmen.’ These neighborhoods in the heart of the Indian quarters acquired the work-related names – Suriparah (the place of wine sellers), Collotollah (the place of oil traders), Chhuttorparah (the haven of carpenters), Aheeritollah (cowherd’s quarters) and likewise Coomartolly (the potters’ quarters) and so on.

[2]Most of the artisans living in the north Kolkata neighborhoods dwindled in numbers or even vanished, as they were pushed out of the area in the late nineteenth century by the invasion from Burrabazar.

[3] In addition, Marwari businessmen virtually flushed out others from many north Kolkata localities. The potters of Kumortuli, who fashioned the clay from the river beside their home into pots to be sold at Sutanuti Bazar (later Burrabazar), managed to survive in the area. Gradually they took to making the images of gods and goddesses, worshipped in large numbers in the mansions all around and later at community pujas in the city and beyond.


In those days, instead of buying the idols from the market at Kumortuli, families invited the kumor or the artisan at home to stay as a house guest weeks before the Puja, to sculpt the idol.

The idol at several big houses Puja were known for its magnificent size. It used to be over 10 feet tall. Every morning as the kumor  started his work, the children gathered around him and gaped in awe as he gradually turned a fistful of straw and a huge mass of clay into a perfectly formed, larger-than-life figure.

And then came the most intriguing part — the painting of the third eye of the goddess, known as "chokkhu-daan".

The artisan would sit in meditation sometimes for hours and then suddenly in one swift stroke of his paint brush, it would be done.

Kumortuli images are generally ordered well in advance and there are a few only for "off-the-shelf" sale.

Nowadays, Kumortuli’s clientele has extended even to Africa, among the Indian communities living there.

In 1989, Durga images made out of shola pith (thermocol) were flown to Sweden, Australia, Malaysia and Nigeria. The images weighed only 3 kilograms each and were ideally suited for air travel.

This is a time when the Goddess comes to life in all her splendor; courtesy of the excellent artisans of Kumortuli, North Kolkata.

The clay, with which the idol is made, is brought in large boats form the river Ganga itse4lf , where after the five day long spell of the Durga Puja festival the idols are immersed in a process called "Bisorjon"... on the Bijoya Dasami, the last day of the festival (this year it's on the 17th of Oct 2010)

The idols drowned in the river turns to river clay in no time, and the  same clay is brought to create idols each year.

It's 'dust to dust' and 'ashes to ashes' all the way...The cycle of Creation never stops and renews itself, as someone said, that nothing ever gets finished totally; it transforms itself into a new form!