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A puja chose Lajja or shame as the theme to focus on the alleged rape and murder of the doctor.
On August 9, the Indian city of Kolkata was shaken when a trainee doctor was found raped and murdered in one of its oldest hospitals. Although an arrest was quickly made, accusations of cover-up and tampering with evidence quickly surfaced, fueling public outrage. Since then, daily protests, human chains and candlelight vigils have taken over the streets of Calcutta. Today, the city's biggest festival takes place amid some of the city's most fervent protests in years.
Kolkata celebrates its biggest annual festival – Durga Puja, when the ten-armed goddess Durga visits her earthly abode, accompanied by her entire family.
In Durga Puja pandals – or temporary temples – the goddess stands in the middle astride a lion, flanked by her children – elephant-headed Ganesha, the warrior god Kartikeya on his peacock, the goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati – while let the defeated buffalo demon lie down before her. feet, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.
Nowadays, it’s not just the gods who draw crowds. The pandals have become quite elaborate. Some recreate monuments like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans. Others are installations with social messages: conserve water, pray for world peace, save crafts.
This has led to Durga Puja being touted as one of the largest street art festivals in the world. The arts organization Mass Art has organized previews of selected Pujas, partly so that foreign guests can get an idea, says its secretary, Dhrubajyoti Bose Suvo, of how a “city transforms into a public gallery”.
But this year, the city's biggest street art event came up against the biggest street protests Kolkata has seen in years. Some idols are different, and even the artwork on the walls reflects anguish and protest with figures of women and animals rendered in bright red, black and white.
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An unusual depiction of a bodiless Durga by artist Sushanta Pal at the Tala Prattoy puja…
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…where the life force of the goddess is represented by flickering candles
The protests erupted after the 31-year-old doctor was found brutally killed at RG Kar Medical College on the night of August 9. After a grueling 36-hour shift, she fell asleep in a seminar room due to lack of a designated rest area. His half-naked body, seriously injured, was discovered the next morning on the podium.
“Of course the incident had an effect on us,” says visual artist Sanatan Dinda. “I don’t paint in an ivory tower. I talk about the society around me in my work.
Upset by the incident, Dinda resigned from a government arts organization. He says: “Now I'm on the street with everyone. Now I'm not afraid anymore.
In September, Dinda and the clay artists who constructed the Durga images in the historic Kumartuli artisan district led a protest march demanding justice for the woman they called “our Durga.”
Dinda says he did “improvisations” on the Durga pictures he was working on this year.
In a house in Bagha Jatin, south Kolkata, her mother goddess looks more fierce than maternal. The lion she usually rides comes out of her chest. Each of its ten arms holds a spear to kill evil. The artwork on the walls reflects angst and protest with figures of naked women and animals rendered in bright red, black and white.
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A mural graffiti created by artist Santana Dinda in a Puja pandal
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A painting recreates the grieving family of the doctor depicted in the portrait hanging on the wall at a Puja
Art as protest is not new.
The work Defacement by Jean-Michel Basquiat, commemorating the murder by police in 1983 of a man who allegedly wrote graffiti in the New York subway, found renewed relevance during the Black Lives Matter movement. Public artists like Jenny Holzer, Keith Haring, Diego Rivera and Banksy – whose stencils span walls from kyiv to the West Bank – have long used art to convey political messages.
Durga Puja art is public art, but it is also at the heart of a religious festival that fuels the state's economy. A British Council report put the economic impact of Durga Puja in 2019 at over $4.5 billion, or nearly 3% of West Bengal state's GDP.
Faced with such a challenge, neighborhood clubs that organize pujas must act with caution. They cannot alienate thousands of ordinary citizens who are looking for a good time, not a sermon. They receive financial subsidies from the government which is facing the protests. They must work with the police on permits and traffic control.
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The idol stands in front of the Constitution, with windows depicting scenes that spark dialogue on social issues
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Actors perform street theater to raise awareness of the gap between rights and realities
A few have chosen to forgo receiving money from the government.
A puja in Kankurgachi, in the northeast of the city, chose Lajja (shame) as its theme after protests broke out. His Durga covers his eyes, his lion watching over the body of a woman wrapped in a white sheet. The organizer is openly affiliated with the country's opposition party.
Nearby, another puja creates a picture of the grieving family, the mother sitting on the bed, the father at a sewing machine, the photo of their daughter in a doctor's coat hanging on the wall. Other organizers are more circumspect, not wanting to wade into political waters.
“But we still want to make our point, especially as a women-led club,” says Mousumi Dutta, president of Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club.
Their theme this year is discrimination. The artist uses the Indian Constitution and its articles promising equality as a backdrop for the goddess while local actors dramatize the gap between the Constitution's promise and reality through street theater.
The theme had been decided earlier, but the tragedy gave it a different urgency. “We have decided not to call this year's Durga Puja a festival,” says Dutta. “We call it more of a commitment. A commitment to creating a world in which we no longer need to take to the streets to demand justice.”
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At the Bagha Jatin puja in south Kolkata, the goddess looks more fierce than maternal
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The artist Sanatan Dinda includes in his signature the name used by many media for the victim, Tilottama
The demand for justice for a woman anyway resonates with Durga Puja, a festival built around a goddess vanquishing evil. A puja had already chosen the power of women as a theme which now corresponds to the spirit of the times.
The designers of the Durga Puja theme say they were already at work when the protests broke out.
“Maybe if this had happened earlier, it would have been different. In August, I was engaged with the organizers and the approximately 450 people who worked with me,” says Susanta Shibani Pal. But he says that the problem has crept “unconsciously” into art.
His installation Biheen (The Void) for Tala Prattoy's puja spans 35,000 square feet, plunging the viewer into what he calls a “black hole.”
Her Durga has no body, her life force being represented by a flickering candle, much like the candles that are part of the protests. “A viewer might read this as my protest. I could call it a coincidence. I started this work before RG Kar came,” he said.
While some bring a protest vibe in their Durga Puja art, others bring protest art to their Durga Puja. Chandreyee Chatterjee's family has been celebrating Durga Puja at their home in Kolkata for 16 years. Chatterjee also participated in many street protests.
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Millions flock to see pandals during Pujas in Kolkata
She admits she wasn't in the mood to party this year. They will still have a Durga Puja but with a difference. “We will do what the rituals require, nothing more. Everything related to celebration, such as dancing, is canceled this year.
She and her friends also had a small artistic badge made. It shows a hand holding a flaming torch. In Bengali are the words “We want justice”.
“I will give it to friends and family who come to our Puja,” says Chatterjee. “We want to remind people that we have a long way to go. »
