Clay Images of West Bengal

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Clay Images of West Bengal

 

A Hindu does not worship an idol

made of wood and clay.

He sees consciousness

within the earthen-ness

and loses himself in it.

 

- Swami Vivekananda

 

[ While looking for some Durga puja

images, I came across this fabulous

website constructed by Dr. Jim

Robinson.

 

See the link below for a fascinating

look into the clay images of West Bengal.

Extensively illustrated with color and

b/w photographs. ]

 

http://www.clayimage.co.uk/

 

From the introduction to the Durga Puja section:

 

Durga Puja in Bengal

 

The most famous festival of Bengal involving the use of

clay images is the Durga puja festival the main part of

which lasts five days: sasthi the sixth day, saptami the

seventh day, astami the eighth day, navami the ninth day

and dasami the tenth day. Durga puja is an autumnal

festival that is celebrated all over India in one form or

another from the first bright half of Asvina to the ninth.

The tenth day is called Vijaya Dasami the victorious

tenth day on which Ramachandra defeated the demon

king Ravana. It falls on the tenth lunar day of the bright

half of Asvina. Durga is called upon as 'remover of

obstacles', the victorious goddess who destroys all evil

and hardship in the world.

 

Once begun, Durga puja has to be celebrated annually.

The worshipper follows scriptural authority and family

tradition as well as any local customs. Celebrations

begin with the recital of the Devi Mahatmya otherwise

known as Chandi or Durga Saptasati which lasts a

fortnight. The puja fortnight is known as Devipaksha

and the non-stop recital of Chandi on the morning of

each day until Mahanavami is part of the whole

ceremony.

 

In Bengal, Durga is commonly shown as a ten-armed

goddess holding in her right hands a sword, discus,

trident with which she spears the demon Mahisha, spear

and arrows. In her left hands are noose, goad, shield and

bow. She stands upon a lion who is attacking the demon.

Durga stands with her left foot on Mahisha's right

shoulder and right foot on the back of her lion mount.

The lion bites Mahisha's right elbow and paws his leg.

Durga's trident pierces Mahisha's chest and her snake

encircles his neck. Mahisha bends under the weight of

this two-fold attack and kneels on one leg, staring

upwards at Durga who looks impassively outwards.

Mahisha carries a sword in his right hand and a shield in

his left. Sometimes he is shown half emerging from the

neck of the decapitated buffalo below while other

images show a buffalo head nearby to represent Mahisha

as the buffalo demon. Durga is surrounded by her family

of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, Kartik who is

seated on a peacock, Laksmi to the left and Saraswati to

the right. The painted backdrop or chalchitra shows

Shiva and Parvati in the centre with their son Ganesha

enjoying domestic bliss in their mountain home of

Kailasa in the Himalayas. On either side are the 10

incarnations of Vishnu and Durga and the 10 female

incarnations of Devi the goddess. Figures of Rama and

Sita and Devi fighting demon armies are also common.

This shows how Durga puja is a non-sectarian, non-

denominational puja which is not just the monopoly of

the Shaktas or those who worship Devi, the goddess.

 

In traditional families the construction of the image

begins several months before the actual Durga puja. On

the day of Rath Yatra the artist takes a piece of split

bamboo into the room where the family images are kept.

The family priest, after prayer to Vishnu, anoints it with

sandalwood paste and invokes Durga's blessings on it.

The bamboo remains in the family shrine from Rath

Yatra (which is celebrated in June-July) until

Janmasthami in July-August) when it is brought down

by the kumar to make the framework of the Durga

image. The base is worshipped on a special day with

kathamo puja. Parts of the framework from the previous

year's image or even the entire framework are retrieved

from the river or pond and used for this ceremony.

 

Durga Puja:

http://www.clayimage.co.uk/Sasthi.html