Durga Puja in Chinsurah- through the eyes of an 18th-century Dutch traveller
PART I : Celebrations in a bania household
European travellers in the 18th century often made visits to the European colonies of Chinsurah, Chandernagore, Serampore and Calcutta. Their writings are filled with detailed descriptions of the European factories, gardens and forts. Rarely does one find a faithful depiction of Bengalis in these accounts. Even if one does find them, their description reflects clear misunderstandings, racial prejudice, and indifference.
Johan Splinter Stavornius’ ‘Voyages to the East-Indies’ (1798) also falls in this category. However, this particular Dutch traveller’s account is noteworthy for perhaps providing the oldest account of a Durga Puja in Chinsurah (around 1770). Begun by the merchant-class families (banias) in this region, it is clear from his description that the celebration of grand Puja festivities was a status symbol for them.
"Wealthy banyans, who can afford the expense of such a festival, will certainly not neglect giving one, at least once in their lives, although it may cost them ten thousand rupees, or more."
Stavornius provided details of the Puja of perhaps the biggest merchant in Chinsurah at that point of time.
“At the upper end of a large room, there was a kind of stage erected, about four feet from the ground. Above it, was a superb canopy, supported, on each fide, by two pillars. The whole was covered with red cotton cloth, which was spangled with flowers, made of thin plates of silver; and which, by the numerous lamps, with which the chamber was illuminated, had a very brilliant effect.”
Today, one cannot identify which Pujo Stavornius was talking about, for over time, some have stopped, with some houses disappearing altogether. Others have fared slightly well, with many pujos still continuing in diminished grandeur.
PART II : Stavornius’ ‘Doulga’
After the detailed description of the European settlements, the moment Stavornius looks towards the religion of the ‘Bengalese’, his account becomes quite a funny read, because of how much he misunderstands local culture.
Stravornius’ description of the grand and glimmering arrangements for Durga Pujo celebrations in Chinsurah is followed by a description of the idol, where the problematic part begins. For him, Durga puja was a festival of the Ganges, since that is where the idols were ultimately immersed. Even stranger was his description of ‘Doulga’, for it matched largely with Kali- having four arms, holding the head of a man in one. But the rest of the description again makes you think of Durga- two of her children on either of her sides, a lion which he describes as a horselike monster, and a "hideous human figure" below, the mahishasura.
This confusing description may have been a result of a mistake in observation. If the scenes witnessed by him were the same 250 years ago, it wouldn’t be difficult to miss details of the decked up idol from a distance. In addition, not only did brahmins refuse to reveal him things, but Stravornius’ discriminatory and uninformed perceptions of the people he called “heathens”, make his accounts often times removed from reality, of which one has to be mindful.
Yet his relatively accurate descriptions of the sacrificial ritual and immersion that follow do seem to question the notion of misunderstanding to some extent. After all, he visited the house to witness the religious practices himself.
In addition, family pujas like the ones Stavornius saw often have variations in the way they celebrate Durga. Some celebrate her in the Shib-Parvati form, some in the Abhaya form, while a few celebrate her in completely unique forms, often claimed to be visions of the ancestor who started the Puja. Thus, reading his record 250 years later, it is really difficult to ascertain whether he missed the six arms of the goddess altogether, or witnessed a unique form created based on the vision of some elite Bengali's dream...
Part III : Hanging Fruits in Pujo?
As I mentioned in my previous posts, Johan Splinter Stavornius’ ‘Voyages to the East-Indies’ (1798) gives one of the earliest descriptions of Durga Puja in Chinsurah. Observing the family puja of a local baniya (merchant), Stavornius gave great details of what he observed during the celebrations. One of his observations struck me to be quite interesting-
“The roof of the apartment, was hung full of cocoanuts, areca nuts, and other fruits, strung in rows.”
One would ask what’s so interesting about this random piece of information? It seems like an insignificant ritual. Mango leaves are always hung on doorways during festivals. In places like Goa, fruits are hung from wooden canopies (matoli) during Ganesh Chaturthi.
But the situation in Bengal is a bit different, for it seems like an almost forgotten tradition. I haven’t found this practice in any other bonedi pujo. I only found literary references to this practice here and there. In fact, Utsa Ray in her book Culinary Culture in Colonial India: A Cosmopolitan Platter and the Middle-Class brings up how Amritalal Basu also in his memoirs mentioned the traditions of hanging fruits such as coconut, banana, bottle gourd, pumpkin, wood apple, sugarcane, lime and pomegranates from the roof.
Only last year, I found perhaps one of the few places where this custom is still alive. In Chandannagar’s Mondol Bari (Gondolpara), even today one finds fruits hung from the balcony of the thakurdalan. Known as Rochona, Neline Mondal, a member of the Mondol family explained the belief behind this practice. "Rochona bandha" or the practice of hanging fruits was done for spirits, to distract them from the bhog presented to the goddess. Such rituals show how fruits were not only an essential part of worship and ‘prasad’, but also of customs like these, which by a miracle have survived even after more than two centuries.
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