The Idol Makers of Kalighat

We stumble into a living artist colony in Kolkata and receive an unexpected visual splendor.

We had heard about these infamous Kolkatan potters, who fashion statues for Durga Puja and other festivals in West Bengal. A Delhiite woman at our hotel had taken an art tour there, and showed us a few jaw-dropping photos on her iPhone.

We were leaving the next day, so sadly I earmarked the visit for another life. Imagine my surprise when our last minute taxi to visit the Kalighat temple drove past the second most famous guild in the city! I hollered to the driver to stop immediately and let us out.

These talented and humble men and a few women have been running family-owned operations since the 8th century. The idols are crafted from Ganga river clay, and sometimes straw. Some are used more permanently, some are exported; others are celabratorialy carried into the sea where they dissolve in celebration of infinite impermanence.

It's a novice photographer's feast. Random heads, deconstructed deities, naked and incomplete avatars in various stages of raw creation are all on view on the side of the alley. The workers paint in harsh, tiny quarters all day long, crafting the sublime from nothing.

Surely, our stumbling into this guild was a fortuitous visual highlight of our trip. In encountering the pieces, many life-sized, one is faced with something of a cognitive disconnect that somehow renders one more confused and simultaneously clear about the intertwining of art and spirit.

May you also enjoy.