Art and storytelling at Kolkata’s Durga Puja Pandals this year

The Art of Storytelling

“This year, they are as good as immersive art installations. They engage and educate the public while celebrating the festival. In recent years, local architects and artists have also gotten involved,” explains Bihani. Durga Puja also happens to be, according to NGO massArt, “the world’s largest publicly funded art show”. Set up in 2022 to promote art and culture in Bengal, the non-profit works to showcase and promote art and culture in Bengal. Clearly, it’s working. The pandals have turned into artistic installations that are as much of a draw as the goddess Herself. It also bears a UNESCO-recognised tag, apart from street cred if the crowds are anything to go by. “Each pandal had a distinct personality, and the artists’ ability to convey deep stories through materials and space was remarkable,” she says.

The Bosepukur Sitala Mandir made dramatic use of earthen pots, for instance. The makers leveraged the symbol and the material to convey the idea of sanchoy, or “savings”. It is based on the concept of the lakhi bhandar, the Bengali word that loosely translates to a traditional cash box typically made of earthenware. In South Kolkata, the Rajdanga Naba Udayan Sangha’s pandal pivoted to a contemporary preoccupation—technology and its ubiquity. “It explored the balance between technological development and nature,” elaborates Bihani. At this year’s pandals, she also observed this mindful use of materials. “Intricate installations were crafted out of reclaimed wood, rusted steel, and GI sheets.”

Channelling the Creative Spirit

Materiality, messaging and storytelling all came together in remarkable, unexpected ways this year. As Bihani says, “While the festival has always been an artistic celebration, the scale and thematic diversity are relatively recent developments. Artists now have the freedom to experiment with materials, forms and narratives that go beyond traditional iconography.” Intrinsic to that is the freedom to interpret the goddess, whether it is in her more traditional avatar or in an abstract form. The pandal of the Kendua Shanti Sangha chose a high-minded, metaphysical route. “The artist used tin sheets and nylon threads to create a dynamic environment that resonated with sound waves to portray divine realisation.”