Spaces of Recognition Puja and Power in Contemporary Calcutta Anjan Ghosh

7/27/2019 Spaces of Recognition Puja and Power in Contemporary Calcutta Anjan Ghosh

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Journal of Southern African Studies

Spaces of Recognition: Puja and Power in Contemporary CalcuttaAuthor(s): Anjan GhoshSource: Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2, Special Issue: Popular Culture andDemocracy (Jun., 2000), pp. 289-299Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

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Journal fSouthern frican tudies,Volume 6,Number , June 000, pp.289-299 Y

Spaces of Recognition: uja and Powerin Contemporary alcuttaANJAN HOSH

(Centre orStudies n Social Sciences,Calcutta)

As themost opular religious estival, urga puja has become conicofmodern engaliHindu dentityn WestBengal, ndia. ts transformationrom rural amily itual o anurban ecularoneoverthe ast 200 yearshighlightsheconstraintsn theemergencefa public phere npost-colonialndia.

IntroductionDurga puja or theworship f themother oddessDurga is the mostpopular eligiousfestival f the Bengali Hindus.1Observedannually n the autumnmonth f Aswin(mid-Septemberomid-October),hefour aysof the uja evokea universal oliday piritand festive tmospheren the state of WestBengal and especially n its capital city,Calcutta. housands fpandals makeshiftamboo, loth ndtarpaulinhelters)re setupall overthecity,where hedeity s housedduring he festival.Worships carried utregularlyuringhefestivaln thepandals by brahmin riestsnd theplatformn whichthe dol of thegoddess ndher children replaced acquires hesanctityf sacred paceduring hefestival. he pandals are located n any open space in theneighbourhood.Sometimes he ack ofsuchspacecan lead to somepandals being ocated n theroad orcarriageway,hus ffectingtemporarylosure fthe oadfor rafficuringhedaysofthefestival. he transformationfpublic pace nto itual ndceremonialpacemakesDurgapuja a very ublicfestival.Publicfestivitiesssociatedwith heDurgapuja have emergedver he ast200 years.Before heBritishonquered engal nthemid-eighteenthentury,urgapuja was a ruralinstitutionrimarily hichwasobservedwithin hehousehold recinctsf the ural entry.Butas theport ity f Calcutta ecame thecapital f theBritish mpiren India,urbansocial lifeburgeoned. he emergentrban ompradorlitewhoprospered hroughheirservices o theBritishoon institutedheDurgapuja among heir ousehold ituals. utalongwith itual bservances,he uja gaveriseto elaborate estivitiesnd differentormsofpopular ntertainmentn theevenings. ven as the massesparticipatedn therevelrylisteningo thebawdy songsor folkperformances,hose by professionalingers nddancing irlswererestrictedo nvited uests ncludinghebabus gentlemenourgeoisie),their eers ndEnglish atrons. he urban estival oonbecame n iconic nstitutionftheBengalisand a space forpublic performancesnd contestation.n thispaper, tracehistoricallyhe courseof thismodemmarker fBengali dentityn Calcutta.

1 Theword uja may efer o both igannual ublic elebrationsiketheDurgafestival nd to more rivatendfamily-containedcts ofworshipnddevotion.ISSN 0305-7070print; 465-3893 nline/00/000289-112000 Journal fSouthern fricantudies

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290 Journal fSouthernzfrican tudiesModernities nd Public SpheresThe emergence of the public sphere is associated with capitalism and modernity.Twoaspects of this,the formation f national and territorialtates and the rights f citizenship,have an important earing on the making of the public sphere. Habermas characterizes hepublic sphereas one whichmediates betweenstateand civil, where private people cometogether s a public', 'a realm of our social life in which something pproaching publicopinioncan be formed'.2But public opinion is informed y the rational-criticaliscoursesof citizens. As sovereign individuals, citizens have rights and responsibilities nd it isthrough heir xercise of choice thatpublic opinion s formed.Habermas claims that accessis guaranteedto all citizens' to the bourgeois public sphere. However, this access is ofcourse dependenton being familiarwiththe world of letters nd the print ultureof thetime,hence being informed f the rights f the citizenry. or - as Habermas notes - thebourgeois public spherefirst evelops in theworld of letters eforebeing appropriated ythe public in the political realm.3The trajectoryfthepublic in India underBritish uleduring henineteenth entury asa differentenealogy.This differences well articulated y Chatterjee:

The way in which hehistoryf ourmodernityas been intertwinediththehistoryfcolonialism, e have never uitebeen able to believe hat here xists universal omain ffreediscourse, nfetteredy differencesf race or nationality.omehow,from heverybeginning e have made a shrewd uess thatgiventhe close complicityetweenmodemknowledgesndmodern egimes fpower,we wouldforever emain onsumers f universalmodernity;everwouldwe be taken eriouslys its producers.4This anxiety bout the colonial genealogy of the modern nd the capacity to reproduce t,has constantly lagued public consciousness. The contradictions f modernityn India arereflectedn Chatterjee's tatement,The same historicalprocess thathas taught s the valueof modernity as also made us the victims of modernity.'5t is this ambiguitywhich liesat the heartof the modern n post-colonial ndia, makingfor a fraughtnd contestedpublicculture,distinct rom he 'publicness' and public opinion of the bourgeois public sphere.In this era of globalization - along with the circulationof commodities- ideas ofmodernity ave also gained currency.Modernity s a conditionof existence is no longerepitomized by a singular et of attributesmanifest n particularocalities of the West. Asaspirations of people in disparate locations, certain values of rationality,democraticparticipation, ecularism and marketexchange have become normativeof the modem.Transnationalflows of information nd images between nationshave led to a universalrecognition f these norms,thoughnot necessarily any compliance with them.Historicalmodernities nvariably ncorporate lementsof tradition nd are scarcely counterposed othem. ncreasingly e-visioned s bricolage, the outcome is vernacularmodernities.In India - even thoughpeople emergedas a 'population',enumerated nd classifiedbythe colonial government hrough ts census and other taxonomic exercises - thisdid notyield the public sphere' of Habermas. Individuals were not clearly demarcatedfrom heircommunity, nd persons not only represented hemselvesbut often stood for their com-munity.Until the early twentieth entury, n additive idea of the nation as comprisingdifferentommunitieshad prevailedin India. The nation was conceived as a collection of2 J. Habermas,The PublicSphere:AnEncyclopedia rticle',New German r-itiqlue, ,3 (1974), pp. 29-38.3 J. Habermas, he Str-uctur-alransfor-mationf thePulblic phere, ranslatedy ThomasBurger Cambridge,Mass., MIT Press,1991),p. 49.4 P. Chatterjee,OurModernity',nP. Chatterjeeed),ThePrese7t istoryfWestBenigalDelhi,Oxford niversityPress,1997),p. 204.5 Ibid.,p. 210.



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Spaces of Recognition 291communities: Hindu, Muslim, Christian,Parsi and Sikh. But by the 1920s, this wasdisplaced by a different otion of a nationcomposed of 'citizens'. This then was thetimeof transition rom ommunityo civil society.6 t was also theperiod when,underMahatmaGandhi's leadership, he Indian national movement cquired a mass following.

The communitarian ontesting f public domains since the end of the nineteenth enturycreated a space betweenthe state and society that served as an arena of ritual acts andperformances. his has been characterized y Freitag as a 'public arena'. Public arenas inIndia did not emergeas a resultof social transformationsike the comingof nationalandterritorialtates,norwere theybased on free and equal participationonditionedby accessto information. ublic opinionfound rticulation nderthe colonial regimeas performancesand symbolic enactments. reitag defines her notion of public arenas as:a world of ritual, heatre nd symbol. t is a universe hat sometimes einforces ier-archy,.. and at other imes xpresses onflict mongunequals; t mayeven do both imul-taneously. ost mportant,t s a world iedclosely o the ocialandpolitical ontextsf itslocale and hence ccommodatesnd reflectshange.7

Clearly itwas in the realm of thesymbolicand performativehat he will of thepublicwasincreasingly rticulated nder olonialism.Along with he and question,public disputationsranged widelyoverreligious observances and culturalperformances. ontroversies angedfromhook-swinging uringfestivalsto the observance of the Ganapati festival tartedbyBalgangadharTilak inMaharashtra, o the performance f the Rama-Lila in northernndia.8In all this a language of speaking to the British and with the other natives' was beingfashioned.Public opinion undercolonial rule was manifested nly in a limitedway throughinstitutionalized olitical channels ike the courts nd legislatures.Only a small elite sectionof thepeople had access to these. On theotherhand secular and religious festivitieswereable to attract opular participation. ence nationalistmobilizations lso found t necessaryto have recourse to such popular festivities.With the withdrawalof colonial rule the confines of public arenas have expanded.Presently, he public opinion of citizens findsdemocratic xpression not only through hemedia but also through heballot. Universal adult franchisehas dissolved the restrictionsofpropertymposedon votersunder olonialism. Yet the questionremainswhether he gapbetween citizens and subjects has been drasticallyreduced in post-colonial India. Exclu-sions from hepublic sphere ontinue pace through tratifying echanisms fdevelopmentand themarket.As social and economic inequalities widen,those who remainmarginaltothe nstitutionalizedpparatuses fpower hardlyfind heir iews included npublic opinion.In otherwords, the bourgeois public sphere is able to accommodate only those whoarticulatewithin ecognized folds.For the others the victimsof the developmentprocessthatbuttresses he modern' - thevocabularyof rights arries ittleresonance. Instead,asChatterjee uggests, hey eek to constitute heir ocial space throughmoralappeals and onhumanitarian rounds, forming different omain from civil society.9This separate butcontingent phereis characterizedby him as 'political society'.The contestednatureof thepublic sphere n India is further emonstrated n Kaviraj'srecentexplorationof public space in Calcutta. Taking the example of a park in south6 G. Pandey, The Construlctionf Communialismn Colonial Nor-thndia (Delhi, OxfordUniversity ress, 1990),p. 210.7 S. Freitag,PlblicArenias and theEmergence ofComuzltialismnn Nor-thndia (Berkeley, University f CaliforniaPress,1990),p. 19.8 N.B. Dirks,ThePolicing fTradition:olonialism nd AnthropologynSouth ndia', Comparativetuidies nSocietyndHistory,9,1 January997), p. 182-212;R. Cashman, yth f he okmanyaBerkeley,niversityofCalifornia ress, 978).9 P. Chatterjee,CommunityntheEast', Economic nd PoliticalWeekly, February988.



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292 Journal fSouthern frican tudiesCalcutta (Deshapriya Park), he analyses how different onceptions of the 'public' aremappedon to theuses of common space in a highly tratifiedulture.The defianceof civicnorms by the poor not only violates the middle classes' notion of theproperutilization fpublic space like parks,but also articulates distinctnotion of commongood. As he putsit, it s interestingo readtheprecisemapping f deas nvolvedn [the] ommonestfviolationof civicrules .. It shows neverydayorm he ontest etween bourgeoisrder fthemiddleclass and thosewho flout ts rules.10Similar appropriations f public space have been evident in regard to the Durga pujafestivalwhenpoorerneighbourhoods ave taken over the roads and public thoroughfaresnordertemporarily o install theirpandals and Durga images. Such appropriation f publicspaces like pavements nd parks gives expression to a different otionof thepublic spherethan the one spawned by Habermas. Kaviraj himself notes the historicalspecificity fHabermas's idea. He writes,Habermas'swork shows precisely ow a specific onfigurationf the idea of thepublicemergednthemodemWest.Paradoxically,his uality fhistoricalpecificityfhis work asbeenwidely gnored, ith cholars trivingo show he xistencef the deaofa 'public pace'in widelydissimilar ultures.t seems to contributeo the greatpopularityf Habermas'sargumentt thecost ofseriousmisunderstanding.11However, in suchpracticesof defiance,Kaviraj does not find heprospectof revolutionarytransformation,ut only a representation f anger and resentment gainst the elite. Thatplebeian angerandrecriminations also a negotiating trategyfsurvivalfor he urbanpooris glossed over by him. It allows the downtrodden certain everage against the state andat the same time extends a moral appeal for support among the middle classes. Theself-expression f theurban poor is a bit of both- defiance and complicity.The culture of the modem has become - as Hannerz puts it - a 'culture n creolisa-tion'.12Arguing against the idea of a homogenous modernity, e remarks,

Itis markedyanorganizationfdiversityatherhan ya replicationfuniformity.o totalhomogenizationfsystemsfmeaning nd expression as occurred,ordoes itappear ikelythattherewill be one any timesoon. But the worldhas become one networkf socialrelationshipsndbetweentsdifferentegions heres a flow fmeaningss wellas ofpeopleandgoods.'3The interconnectednessf global modernitynd the transnational lows thatcharacterize tis also foregroundedn the work of Appadurai.14 Emphasizing theflow of images throughelectronicmediationand of goods and people through he market nd mass migration, ecalls attention o theporous and multi-sited atureof theglobal cultural conomyand thespecificity f modernityn particular ocalities. This promptsAppaduraiand Breckenridgeto remark hat Modernity s now everywhere,t is simultaneously verywhere, nd it isinteractively verywhere'.'5 Considering that modernities are not merely imported butproduced and reproduced hey note that,

10 S. Kaviraj, Filth nd thePublic phere: oncepts f Practices bout pace in Calcutta', ublicCulture, 0, 1(1997), p. 84.11 Ibid.,p. 86.12 U. Hannerz,The World n Creolization', frica, 7, 4 (1987), pp.546-559.13 U. Hannerz,CosmopolitansndLocals nWorld ulture',nM. Featherstoneed),GlobalCultureLondon, age,1990).14 A. Appadurai, odernityt Large Delhi,Oxford niversityress,1997).15 A. AppaduraindC. Breckenridge,PublicModernityn ndia', nC. Breckenridgeed), Consuming odernity:Public Culture n Contemporaryndia Delhi,Oxford niversityress,1996),pp.1-20.



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Spaces ofRecognzition 93Most societies odaypossess themeans forthe ocal productionf modernitynd as theirmembersmove around he world, heseexperiences nformnd inflect ne another, husmaking ven the paradigmatic odernityf the UnitedStates and Europe itselfnot anunproblematicssumption)o morepristine.'6

However, what this discourse of global culture omits is the unequal nature of powerrelations among global partners nd how these were constituted hrough he workingofcolonial difference. ts implicationfor post-colonial formations ike India and the deepambivalencesof the modem subject to modernityherein emainsunnoticedby Appaduraiand Breckenridge.It is this spirit of contestation n the public world that prompts Appadurai andBreckenridge o propose the concept of 'public culture' in a globalized context. Shiftingattentionfrom the Habermasian 'world of letters' and 'public opinion' to the mass'consumption f culture'and idiom of one-upmanship, heyconceive of public culture s:setof arenas hat aveemergedn a varietyfhistoricalonditionsndthat rticulatehe pacebetween omesticife ndtheprojects fthenation-statehere ifferentocialgroups classes,ethnic roups, enders) onstituteheirdentitiesytheirxperiencefmass mediated ormsin relation o thepractices f everydayife.17

By detachingthe notion of 'public' from ts institutional onnotation hey seek to exposea 'zone of culturaldebate'. Envisaged as a zone within heprocess of globalization, theycontendthatthe:contestatoryharacterfpublic ulture as much o do with he tensionsnd contradictionsbetween ational itesand transnationalulturalprocesses.18

In their overt attention o transnational lows, theyare less attentive o the implicationswithin he nation. For as the notion of public culturedraws attention o theproduction fmeaningthrough onsumption, t also creates a distinction etweenthose who consume andthose who do not. The imperativeof cultural consumption, argely confinedto urbancentres, onstitutes mode of differentiationhat xcludes a large body of people in Indiafrom ts purview.As sites of contention, ublic culture ffords n insightnto the rhetorics f the modernBengali self.The introduction f social reform like theban against sati or thepracticeofwidow immolationat the funeralpyre of Hindu husbands'9 and the spread of Englisheducation in Bengal - have led commentators o invoke the image of a Bengal Renais-sance.20Critical historicalscrutinyhas subsequentlyunderscoredthe frailty f such ananalogy,as Western ducationwas largely imited o urban Hindu middleclass males whocame principally rom herent-receivinglasses and were complicit n maintaining ritishcolonialism. Consequently modernBengali self-fashioning as been overtly restrictive,undergoingfragmentationlong caste, class, gender,religiousand regional ines.2' Recog-nition of this fissive process is manifested n the post-colonial era in institutionalizedculturalpractices.These practiceshave not remained onstant ut undergone hange as theyhave been appropriated nd contested by the marginal collectivitiesto speak to different

16 Ibid.17 Appaduraind Breckenridge,PublicModernitynIndia',p. 4.18 Ibid.,p.5.19 The imitsf he iscourse freformavenowbeenbrilliantlynterrogatednLata Mani,Contentiousraditions(Delhi, Oxford niversityress,1999).20 See thediscussion n theBengalRenaissancenP. Chatterjee, ationialisthoughtnd theColon2ialWorld(London, ed Books,1986).21 For an account f some of these ragments,ee P. Chatterjee,heNationtnd itsFragmenitsPrinceton, J,Princetonniversityress,1994).



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294 Journal f Southern frican tudiespurposes.Thus - as thekey festivalof theBengali uppercaste Hindus - Durga puja hasincreasingly ecome a secular and hybrid ntity, ncorporating idespread popular partici-pationfromdisparatecastes and classes, and enablingwomen to emergefrom heseclusionof theirdomestic sphereto inhabitpublic spaces duringtheperiod of the festival.

By consideringDurga puja as integral o thepublic culture f Bengalis, I interrogatehechanges that have occurred in the societal structure nd expanded the horizons ofparticipation mong the people. The popularityof the festivalhas enhanced its festiveaspect while eroding ts ritual features.This has to an extent secularized' the worship ofa Hindu goddess intoa cosmopolitanfestival.Further,t has displaced theelite imaginationfrom constituting he festivities olely in its own image. The attributes f conspicuousconsumption, isplay and statushave now been appropriated y the non-elite ections ofsocietyas well.

The Worshipof DurgaPuja means worship and comprises a partof everyday ife in temples and many Hinduhouseholds. t is a show of respect nd honourfor deitybut also refers o 'a form fritual,a series of actions,and a set of attitudes'.22 Puja can also signify as in the case of Durgapuja - an annualfestival,23 hen a particular eity s worshipped nd the egends associatedwith t evoked.Durga puja takesplace in autumnduring hebright ortnightf the unar monthAswin.It continuesforfourdays at the end of which the images of the deities are takenout inpublic processionsand immersed n the river.Durga is a powerfulgoddess and theconsortof Lord Shiva. The form n which she is worshipped s known as Chandi (her fiery ndwarlikemode). She is depicted as slayingthe buffalo demon astrideher lion, hence herothername Mahishasuramardini theslayerof thebuffalodemon. This form f hers s notunique to Bengal but well known n otherpartsof India like Maharashtra, amil Nadu andAndhraPradesh.24 ut in Bengal, Durga is nota singularfigure. he is accompanied byherfour hildren, akshmi (the goddess ofwealth),Saraswati the goddess of learning),Kartik(the generalof thearmy), nd Ganesh (the elephant-headed od of prosperity). he is thusperceived as a benevolentmotherfigure,who visits her parental home annually for fourdays withherchildren n tow. In a sense, the figure f Durga represents heyearnings fyoung Bengali brides of yore, piningto return o theirnatal familiesand be freefrom hestiflingonstraints f their ffinal omes.The legendof Chandi which s invokedduring heworshipof Durga clearly bringsto thefore the other' side of the benevolentmother.Herfury s neithervengefulnor random,butprotective.As the legend has it,

Once a fierce attle agedbetween hegodsand thedemons, asting early thousand ears.The main dversaryf thegods wasMahishasura,uffalo emon,who hadnearlywipedoutthe divine rmy.At last he managed o defeat ll thegods.Drivenout of theirheavenly bode the divinepersonageswentto Brahma nd soughtprotection.rahmamitted dazzling ffulgencerom ismany imbswhich ssumed he ormofa woman. he looked wesome ndpowerfulnd when hegodssaw her hey ookheart.Theneach of them reated eplicas ftheir wn special weaponswithwhich hey quippedher.25

22 A. Oster, lay of theGodsAmongMen Chicago,Universityf ChicagoPress,1982),p. 4.23 C. Fuller, heCamnphorlame New Jersey,rincetonniversityress,1992),p. 62.24 C. Berkson,heDivine ndthe emoniac:Mahisa sHeroic truggle ith urga Delhi,Oxford niversityress,1995).25 S. Bhattacharji, otherGoddesses f ndia Calcutta, .P. Bagchi,1995),pp. 32-33.



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Spaces ofRecognition 295In the battle that ensued between the goddess and Mahisasura, she destroyedhis forcesbefore confronting im.

When he charged, e gave up the hape f a buffalond turnednto lion.Thegoddess truckoff ts head but mmediately man came out of thedecapitatedion,sword n hand. Thegoddess lew him n no timebutthen gain an elephant ppearednhis place. She choppedoff ts runkt which t resumed he hape f a buffalondstampededver ll creationngreatfury.Now, the thirsty oddessdrankher fill of wine and smiled witheyes reddenednintoxication.he buffalo emonwas uprootingillsand mountainsnd hurling hem t her.She pierced nd smashed hemwithher rrows ndsaid, You fool,roar ndyellas longasI drink.When destroy ou thegodswillroar ndshout'.With his he eapedupon hedemon, ierced imwith er pike ndstruckffhishead.26

The worship of Durga epitomizes this search for protection nd the benevolence of thegoddess. Considered as a harvestfestival,Durga puja represented formof thanksgivingfora bountiful arvest.Worshippedprimarilyn therural reas by individualelite families,the puja in pre-BritishBengal represented mode of vertical integration f the ruralcommunity.While thepuja would be organized by the village landlord, t would involvea wide section of the people in the village with the service castes providing heir ervicesfor he successfulcompletion fthepuja. The entirevillagewould be fed on particular aysof the festival and the village populace could join in the festivitiesby having darsana(seeing) of the deity. Darsana or gazing upon the image of the deity has a specialsignificance n Hinduism, for t is not a passive gaze. Just s the devotee gazes upon theimage the deityalso gazes upon the devotee and thereoccurs an 'exchange of vision'.27Asit is believed thatthe deity s in the image, this exchange of vision enables the devotee toabsorbtheshakti power) thatflows from he goddess's unblinking aze.28 n this way thepeople in the village who come to view the mage of the goddess are blessed by her powers.OriginsofDurga PujaDurga puja in its present form of an annual festival was initiated in 1580 by RajaKansanarayanofTaherpur now inBangladesh). He was soon emulatedby Raja JagatnarainofBhaduria nRajshahi districtalso now in Bangladesh). It is significanto notewhy RajaKansanarayan startedthe worship of Durga. He is said to have begun it as a form ofrepentance, orhis sin ofbringing bout the downfallof the Nawabs of Bengal through isalliance with theMoghul emperorAkbar.This led to the end of independentBengal as itcame under Mughal rule. Regrettinghis action, Kansanarayan summoned his Brahminadviser Ramesh Shastri nd asked him how he could atoneforhis action.The latter dvisedhim to perform urga puja, which was accomplished withmuchpomp. The puja becamemorepopularunderRaja Krishnachandra oy of Nadia (1710-1782) who celebrated t ona grand scale.29During his times thepuja 'was a grandbut privateaffair n the elegantthakurdalan (courtyard f thedeities) of thepalace' 30 It was theexclusivityof engagingin this kindof worship that attracted ther notables. In Calcutta, the Sabarna Choudhurisof Barisha started heirown familypuja in 1606.

In the ruralareas of Bengal before the advent of theBritish, uja was an occasion to26 Ibid.27 D. Eck, Darsana (Chalmersberg,nimaBooks,1981),p. 6.28 Fuller, heCamphor lame,p. 60.29 M. Das, ChangingatternftheDurga uja FestivalnBengalfrom he stablishmentfBritish ule nBengalin 1757 till ndependence,947',UnpublishedhD thesis, alcuttaUniversity,993,p. 12.30 J.Chaliha ndB.Gupta,DurgaPuja nCalcutta',nS. Chaudhuried),Calcutta: he iving ity, ol.2 (Calcutta,Oxford niversityress,1990),p. 331.



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296 Journal f Southernlfricantuidiesreaffirmhe social solidarity f the village and division of labouramongthedifferentastes.The elaborate preparations equired for thepuja engaged the efforts f a large family ndmembers were not only allotted tasks but had a share in the puja. This elicited itsdescription s solo-ana-puja (sixteen annasmade a rupee).The rupeeepitomized heholismof the family or kin community.3' n a sense the deity represented he whole of thecommunity n its relation to the family of the local landlord. As village solidaritywasmaintained, he landlordenhanced his status throughhis redistributiveapacity.32CelebrationBecomes PublicThe transition romhousehold worship of the mothergoddess to baroari (public) worshipwas made in the last decade of the eighteenth entury,when twelve brahminsformedacommittee o conducttheir wn Durga puja. The coming together f twelve friendshencebaroari) in a committee ed to the first ublic worship n 1790 at Guptipara, village nearSantipur n Nadia district f West Bengal.33The committee collected public subscriptions from the neighbouringvillages andperformed glittering eremony along with various kinds of entertainmentike swang(critical mimicry), uppetry isplay, atra (folk theatre) nd halfakhrai (a formof bawdysinging). There was a strong ssociation of public entertainmentith thepublic worshipofthegoddess and Durga puja increasingly ecame a time of celebration.The baroari pujasrapidly proliferated uringthe early decades of the nineteenth entury n the whole ofBengal. But its emancipation from the confines of elite households did not lead to thedecline of household celebrationsof puja. In effect,both flourished oncurrentlys thecomprador babus of Calcutta now began to engage in status display throughtheirsumptuouscelebrationof Durga ptuja.The baroari pujas by going public also elicitedpublic conflicts. hus in 1821 a caste disputeerupted t theJoynagar aroari puja in South24 Parganason the outskirts fCalcutta,over an invitation xtendedto a manfrom he owweaver caste (tanti) to participate n the proceedings. The upper caste members of thelocality attacked the principal organizerfor defiling heirpuja.34Sectariandisputesalso arose in regard o thepublic worshipof Durga. In Chinsurah,Dutch settlement earCalcutta,a dispute arose between the Vaishnavites and the Saivites(two denominated sects withinHinduism) over animal sacrificeat the puja in 1837.35Dispute and contentions part,thebaroari pujas were able to flourish ill about thefourthdecade of thenineteenth entury,fterwhich suchpublic worshipunderwent decline withfalling ubscriptionsnd diminishedglamour. Only a few of thebaroari pujas survivedtillthe early years of thenextcentury.Atul Sur reminiscesthatduringthis childhood in theearlydecades of thepresent entury herewere few baroari pujas. Durga puja was carriedout with great pomp and pageantry n the households of the urban elite in Calcutta.MahendranathDutta - an old Calcutta resident- also remembersthe puja in leadinghouseholds duringthe first ecade of thecentury.3631 In the enseof the ixteen nnasmaking p a rupee. ee M. Togawa, RitualTowards otality:olo-ania-puja,theRitual rganisationfDurga uja nRural engal', nSteering ommitteef heResearchrojectnstitutions,NetworksndForcesof Change nContemporaryouthAsia (eds), Rituals s Popullar Cultulre:Towards

Historico-AnthropologicalUnderstanding fModern Indiant ociety (Tokyo, Japanese Ministryof Education,Science, ports ndCulture, 999),p. 60.32 B. Ghose, GentooderurgaPuja'(Babu'sDurga uja), n B. Ghose,Kolkata haharertibrittaHistoryftheCity fCalcutta) Calcutta, ak Sahitya, 975),pp.320-321.33 A. Sur, Baroari ujar ekalEkal' Then ndNowofCommunityurga ulja), aptahikar-tarnan,30 September1995),pp. 8-10.34 Ibid.,p. 9.35 Ibid.36 M. Dutta, olikatarPurzataniahinii Pratha Old Stories ndCustomsfCalcutta)Calcutta, 929;republished1975),pp. 109-111.



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Spaces ofRecognition 297In the latterhalf of the nineteenth entury, urga puja increasingly ecame associatedwiththegentoosor babus of Calcutta.These were people frommodest caste backgroundswho by virtue f their ervicesas banians (money enders)and gomasthas accountants)tothe leading BritishEast India Company officials nd merchantswere able to amass huge

fortunes. hey were the ones who institutedhefamilyDurga puja in Calcutta.Alongsidethe urban parvenus were the well-establishedold landlords like the Sabarna Choudhuriswho also performed hepuja withpomp and ceremony.In theseperformances fthepuja there emained difference.While theworshipof theSabarna Choudhuris who were the traditional andlordsof the southern artof Calcutta- was marked by tradition,dignityand aristocracy with the ceremonial rituals beingperformedwithdevotion, hepuja of the gentoos was characterized y glitter, immick ndexcess. The religious aspect of the worshipwas overshadowedby lavish, licentious andbawdy entertainment.uch entertainmenty dancing girls and bawdy singerscontinuedthroughouthenightduring hefestivedays. Some of this was thrown pen to thepublicand the populace enjoyedthebawdy repartees f the half-akhrai ingers.But the songs byprofessional ingers nd dancers were oftenmeant exclusively forthe babus ('gentlemen')and theirEnglish masters.PearychandMitra in his sketches of nineteenth-centuryife inCalcutta scathingly depicts the indulgence of the babus, their craven but ineffectiveemulation of the English and their constantattemptto ingratiate hemselves with thecolonial masters.37 y the second decade of the twentieth entury, n assertiveBengalinationalist elf left ts imprint n the celebrationof Durga puja.Nationalism nd Community estivalsThe baroari Durga puja gave way to the sarbajanin ptujaby the second decade of thetwentiethentury.t is said that few distinguished entlemen n northCalcutta had beeninsultedwhen theyvisited a familypuja. This promptedthemto set up a communityassociation and conduct a sarbajanin (community) uja. The first uch communityworshipwas begunin Baghbazar (a locality n north alcutta) in 1918. During its early years, someof the prominent arbajanin pujas were associated with the nationalistmovement. TheBaghbazar sarbajanin or its neighbouring imla Byam Samitipuja had connectionswiththe underground xtremists f the nationalmovement.The extremists who believed inarmedstruggle worshippedDurga as the embodiment f shakti power) and promoted heestablishment f gymnasiums orthecultivation f physical culture.38 rganizersof thesepujas surreptitiouslyriedto smugglein nationalist ymbolsamong the decorationforthegoddess. This attracted he ire of theBritishgovernmentwho banned theBaghbazar pujafor some years.Even before ndependence n 1947, thecommunity uja or thesarbajaninDurgotsavhad become popular. Durga puja now represented he cohesion and distinctive-ness of the para (locality or neighbourhood).The greaterthe fanfare,decoration anddesigner lightingfor thepandals became, the higherthe esteem of the neighbourhood.However, the familypujas still continue n some of the elite families,but the decline offamilyfortunes iminished heirnumber.Yet - even today- some of the well-establishedfamily ujas continueto maintain raditions nd seek to emphasize thereligious aspect ofworship.

37 P. Mitra, utumanicharNaksha Sketches fHutum)Calcutta, asumati rakashani,862;republished982);R.P.Gupta,Hutomerhokhe aroari uja' Communityurga ija as Observed yHutum),aptahikartaman,(30 September 995),pp. 11-14; B. Ghose, Gentooder urgaPuja'.38 J.Sarma,Puja AssociationnWestBengal',Journal fAsianStudies, 8, 3 (1969), p.583.



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298 Journal f Southern frican tudiesTable 1. Yearwise ncreasen the number fcommunityurgapujas in CalcuttaYear No. of communityujas1954 3001962 6501968 7591969 9011977 10031979 9901994 11041995 1120Sources: Banerjee, SarbojoninDurgotsab nCalcutta' ndSarma, Puja Associationn WestBengal'.

In the post-colonial era, the numberof community r sarbajanin pujas has increasedrapidly. Table 1 gives some idea of numbers n Calcutta.In multi-ethnic eighbourhoods paras), Muslims, Christians nd dalits (untouchable)have also participatedn theorganization f thepuja - as for nstance n thePark Circus,Wellesley Street nd Ripon Street reas.39The increase in the number f community ujashas meantthat here s keen competition monglocalitiesto attractargenumbers fpeopleto theirpandals to have darsana of the deity.As a result, nnovations re carried out inthemakingof the mage,decoration nd lighting f thepandals and musicplayed over theloudspeakers. In an effort o catch the public eye, huge amounts are spent on theconstruction f thepandal and lighting.The escalation in the cost of sarbajanin Durgapujas can be gaugedwhenwe notethat,n 1969, a major community uja would cost aboutRs37,000, whereas in 1995, theirbudgetwould range in the vicinity f Rsl-1.5 million.This money s no longerraised through he collection of individualsubscriptions rom helocality,as had been the practice earlier. Instead 'mega'-pujas obtain sponsorshipsfromcompanies throughdvertisementsttached opuja souvenirs.Usually large-scaleadvertise-ments re obtainedby politicianswho are known topatronizeparticular ommunityujas.40Durga puja is associated withmany aspects of Bengali life. It is not only the mostimportant eligious festival, t is also an importantnnual event. The propensityo buynewclothes or othergoods for the festivalseason means that t is a time of intensebusinesstransactions.t is also a timeforculturalcreativity s popular singers try o release theirnew songs and recordings or the festive eason. Newspapers and magazines publishtheirannual numbers t this time with writers yingto outdo each other n their reativeoutput.As has been argued recently y Bose,41Calcuttabecomes a wonderlandduring hedays ofthe Durga puja as community uja organizers design theirpandals in the formof theMysore Maharajah's Palace, as a Paris cathedral, r as a famous Hindu templefromSouthIndia. These wondrousconstructionsransform alcuttaduring hepujas into a heterotopicspace. The juxtaposing of incongruous objects and symbols in the decoration creates amystique,whichmayhave more to do withdesire thanwiththe occasion at hand. Durga39 B. Banerjee, Sarbojonin urgotsabn Calcutta:A Preliminaryeport fthePujas in 1969', Folklore, 4, 9(September 973),pp. 347-353.40 Banerjee,Sarbojonin urgotsab'; . Acharya,DurgaPujaEkhon ponsorNirvar'DurgaPuja NowSponsorDependent),aptahtikartaman,30 September 995),pp. 15-18.41 P.Bose, PujorKolkatar ikalpalok' TheWonderlandfCalcutta uring urgaPuja), Baromnas,pecialDurgapuja issue,October 997.



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Spaces ofRecognition299puja allows all this to be expressed in public. It is a timewhen incongruitys permissibleand enables themasses to appropriatepublic space to give vent to their magination.From theportalsof the local landlords to the festivities f the urbanpopulace, Durgapuja has become iconic of Bengali Hindu identity.t is a time offestivitynd consumption,whichtransgresses eligious bounds. Public spaces are taken overby thepeople who enjoya temporaryicence to transformhe mundane nto thespectacular.Yet this does not nvestthepopulace withsubjecthood,butrather nables themasses to inhabit he public domainwithout eingitsdeterminant.urga puja has retained ts mprint f middle-classreligiosityand of imposingculturalhegemony upon thepopulation.ANJAN HOSHCentrefor Studies in Social Sciences, R-1, Baishnabghota-Patuli Township,Calcutta-700029, India

Documents

Spaces of Recognition Puja and Power in Contemporary Calcutta Anjan Ghosh