Palaces and Courtyards
Another illustrious worshipper was Gobindaram Mitra (1720-1756), the ‘black zamindar’6 appointed by the East India Company, who used to hold the pujas in his ancestral home in Kumortuli, in north Calcutta. The Mitra family documents describe how the goddess had a silver throne to herself and her sons. Shiva was included in the entourage, and towered over the rest. The Laxmi and Saraswati figures were placed at the sides and during immersion carried in separate decorated palanquins. Preparations for the festivities started about a fortnight in advance. Large-scale charity feasts and musical soirees were the order of the days. Yet the merriment did not lighten the depth of devotion.
There was a saying in those days that the Devi did three things during her stay deck herself up in jewellery have a hearty meal and enjoy the entertainment. Though every family put its grandest foot forward for the festival, public opinion decided on a definite address for each of these activities, thereby crowning these pujas in the eyes of the contemporary and posterity.
It was at Shib Krishna Dawn’s Jorasanko residence that Durga was said to put on her jewellery And why not? Dawn, a coal and iron merchant, covered his idol in gold. Through the four days, Durga was present in all her glittering glory at the Dawn home. It was said in those days that the ornaments of diamonds and emeralds were specially ordered from Paris.
She partook of the meals at the Kumortuli address of Abhaycharan Mitra, great grandson of Gobindaram. It is fascinating to read accounts of the spread laid out at the puja, especially the sweets. Contemporary actor and dramatist Amritalal Basu remembers how the jalebis were as big as cartwheels, the gajaas were like huge circular plates and the motichurs rivalled cannon balls in size. The sweets piled up, touching the ceiling of the hail.
As for the entertainment, her seat was booked at the palatial mansion of the Debs in Sovabazar. Nautches by the finest bayaderes in the country started late in the evening and continued well into the night, punctuated by music, mimicry and masquerade. More on that revelry later.
Any account of Durga Puja in the 19th century remains incomplete without anecdotes about intoxicated organisers. One is mentioned in Hutom Pnyachar Naksha, the great social chronicle of mid-l9th century Bengal. Inspecting the idol on the night of Sashthi (Day 6), the head of the Singha family, under the influence of liquor, suddenly flew into a rage. “What is that beast doing under the goddess’ feet when I, the real lion, am here,” he exclaimed. The next moment he had dislodged the clay lion and wrapping himself in a blanket, positioned himself in its place. In the morning, when the priest found him there, his embarrassment can be well-imagined.
Another babu, in his intoxication, took the saying “dhaki suddho bisharjan” (immersion along with the drummer) literally. Oil Dashami (Day X), two boats were rented. One carried the babu and his mates, the other the dhakis. The idol was placed on a plank in between. Once the boat reached mid-Ganga, the boats separated, and the idol was immersed. The beat of dhak reached a crescendo. Suddenly the babu’s eyes fell on the dhakis in the other boat. “Why are you still afloat? The Goddess has set off for Mt Kailash. Don’t you know you have to guide her?” he roared. To humour the babu, his flatterers sunk the other boat and the poor dhakis had to swim ashore.
The Company connection
The arrival of the British, who, in course of time, got deeply entangled in the country’s social fabric, brought about a transformation in the character of the Puja. Contact with the East India Company, commercial or otherwise, led to the emergence of a new moneyed class in Calcutta. By mid-l8th century the greatest festival of the Bengalis had become the occasion for these nouveaux riches babus to flaunt their wealth and further their good offices with the Company representatives. The change is best brought out in an account of J.Z. Holwell, the erstwhile zemindar9 of Calcutta. In Important Historical Events, 1766, he writes: “Doorga Pujah.. is the grand general feast of the Gentoos, usually visited by Europeans (by invitation) who are treated by the proprietor of the feast with fruits and flowers in season, and are entertained every evening while the feast lasts, with bands of singers and dancers.”1° A great religions ceremony was thus reduced to a “general feast”.
The participation of the Company sahibs was a matter of great prestige for the host. The complacence is unmistakable in a letter Nabakrishna Deb (of Sovabazar lineage), the talukdar of north Calcutta, wrote to a friend, announcing Lord Clive’s consent to “grace” his Puja.
Nabakrishna, awarded the Raja title by the British, in fact, started his puja to celebrate the East India Company’s victory in the Battle of Plassey over Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah in 1757. A thakurdalan (a hail for worship) came up at his palatial Sovabazar residence for the express purpose of hosting the festival. Lord Clive himself is said to have made offerings of baskets of fruits, Rs 101 and even a goat for sacrifice.