ABSTRACT
Starting from the image of Kolkata, associated with Durga Puja and the politics of nominating and subsequent listing of the festival for UNESCO’s ICH, this chapter draws on the religious and cultural implications of the festival of Durga Puja, the history of the festival and its popularity, and an introduction to the practices of emerging allied new communities of idol-makers and seasonal workers, which caters to the Durga Puja festivities. This directly relates to the following chapter, where the sustainability of the practice and further implications of the changing consumer patterns on the crafting neighbourhood are discussed. This chapter builds on personal entanglements with the city and the festival, ethnographic evidence from fieldwork and existing anthropological literature on the festival’s evolution, and discourse on cultural and religious politics. This chapter also presents the theoretical and methodological positioning of the research and its implications for the Kumartuli community.
