Octogenarian Kashinauth Chunder sits alone in the run-down courtyard of his house, looking at a man engrossed in giving final touches to the idol of Devi Durga. At the Chunder residence in north Kolkata Durga Puja is being celebrated for the 162nd year! But the broken window frames and crumbling courtyard tell the story of the changed fortunes of the Chunders, once powerful zamindars who, some hundred years ago, thought nothing of spending a princely Rs 1,000 on lavish celebrations.
“Yes, things have changed. There was a time when family seniors took active part in the Pujas , from participating in daily chores to taking care of guests. But now, everything is outsourced,” says Kashinath Chunder. Busy work schedules and nuclear families have seen the end of ‘active involvement’ of entire families in Durga Puja. But it is only during the Pujas that the family gets together, keeping aside differences.
There are at least 20 such traditional
The Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family is considered to be the original landlord family of the city. A book by Atul Krishna Roy —
The Puja of the Deb family of Sovabazar was graced by Lord Clive and a host of other Bengali luminaries. The families of Rani Rashmoni, the Haatkhola Duttas, the Lahas (anglicised to Laws), the Chunders, and even the Chorbagan Sils have all been have been celebrating Durga Puja with grandeur and in the sanctity of their own homes, keeping alive traditions and rituals that were initiated and upheld over the 17th and 18th centuries.
Not much has changed in terms of their tradition, except that declining finances have taken a toll on almost all the traditional households of the city. While the more extravagant Puja budgets range anywhere between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, other Puja baris have had to scale down their spending. A major cost involves feeding the masses, or providing bhog as it is known, for about 500 people over the four days of the Puja . This constitutes 40 per cent of the budget.
Changing fortunes
For these former zamindars , the source of income has changed. Where once they earned rental from their properties, they have become dependent on family members for contributions.
Devarshi Roy Chowdhury, who is the 35th generation of Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family, puts things in perspective. “ Pujas were earlier dependent on donations from subjects and their tenants. A part of the offerings that includes vegetables or animals came from them. There were very few occasions when the landlord would himself step out to buy anything. But now there is no such concept and hence Pujas are dependent on family members only.”
Puja at the Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family, located across the northern and southern fringes of the city, dates back to 1610 when it was started by Ray Lakshmikanta Gangopadhyay Mazumdar Chowdhury and his wife Bhagabati Debi in Barisha in the southern parts of Kolkata. Eight pujas are performed in the family in eight separate houses (Aath Chala Bari, Boro Bari, Mejo Bari, Majher Bari, Benaki Bari, Kalikinkar Bari, Birati Bari and Nimta Bari) maintaining the traditional customs.
With huge properties spread across the city and in the suburbs, a steady rental income from them helped family members tide over the Durga Puja cost. But with most properties being now under litigation, either due to internal strife or owing to parts of the properties being sold over the years, rental income too has dwindled.
Rotation Policy
Some families have found ways to beat the recession. The Laha family or the Chorbagan Sils (who will celebrate Durga Puja for the 157th year), for example, have a rotation policy where the Puja is divided amongst each member family. Typically, one member of the Laha family will perform the annual Durga Puja once every 15 years. In case of the Sils, each member does the Puja once in five years.
“If one thinks practically, then a rotation policy makes sense. The financial costs are distributed and so are responsibilities,” a member of the Laha family said.
Despite the financial pressures, most of the traditions have been maintained with a modern touch in these historic Puja baris .
Makeover of Traditions
Of course, the Sovabazar Rajbari no longer has nautch girls dancing away all night long to entertain the Britishers as they once famously did, nor do the Sabarna Roy Chowdhurys sacrifice animals as they did in the past. They used to sacrifice 13 goats and a buffalo at one time. Now vegetables have replaced animals following objections from family members. But gunshots still ring in the air during the Pujas . They also continue the Masho Bhokto Bali ritual in which a mixture of rice, banana, cloves and ghee is prepared and offered to the Goddess in earthen pots.
The entire Puja is performed according to the Tridhara Sangam form of worship, where on the left side of the Goddess stands Lord Shiva and on her right we see Lord Rama. In the old days, it was a practice to free blue jays, the nilkontho bird, during the immersion ritual of the Goddess. This has been banned by government and these days, clay birds go down along with the Goddess into the river.
Many stories surround the Durga Puja across the various zamindari households of Kolkata. It is said that the Laha Bari Durga Puja was started some 170 years ago by Ishwar Pran Krishna Laha, a cloth merchant, in Kolkata; others maintain that it was started by his father, Rajiblochan Laha, in Chinsurah nearly 200 years ago.
The dates may be disputed indefinitely, but the memories of a glorious legacy continue to light up Puja baris every time Devi Durga visits.