ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the unique cultural practices in Bengal’s regional history and the origin of Durga Puja in its unique form. It explains how the culture around Durga Puja has acted as a stimulus to the occupation of clay idol-making and its associated trade and how the identity of the mritshilpis can be intrinsically related to the popularity and spread of Durga Puja. It also maps the social dislocations that followed the dominance of British East India Company, the rise of neo-rich under the colonial rulers and how organising Durga Puja became a status marker for them. The growth of the city of Kolkata and its changing social and political character as the centre of reformation and nationalist struggle also contributed to the changing character of Durga Puja, its evolution from family celebration to community celebrations, from a socio-religious to a sociocultural event. These changes that happened extensively between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth century also brought in new challenges for the mritshilpis, on stylisations of the idols, medium to be used, tensions between “high” art and “popular” art, of artists and artisans (shilpi and karigar). The corporatisation of Durga Puja by the late twentieth century further forced the traditional mritshlipis to recast their identity, modify their styles, manage competition and develop new forms of cooperation in the context of changing consumption patterns of the aesthetics of Durga Puja.
