The Godmakers of Kumartuli

The Godmakers of Kumartuli

Godmakers may sound over-exaggerated here but trust me,they literally make gods and pour in life into the ‘hay & clay’ .The word Kumartuli basically originates from the word Kumar/kumbhar (people who make clay idols) and Toli means group. Now every Indian can guess the meaning. Geographically, kumartuli is stitched to the river banks of Hugli river at ward no 9 of Kolkata near sovabazar (You will start pronouncing the ‘bha’ as ‘va’) That happens when you are in Kolkata for a considerable amout of time.

Historically, Kumartuli, one of Kolkata's oldest neighbourhoods, provides the city its greatest source of joy — idols of Durga. There are dedicated and prolonged efforts that transforms from a crude structure of clay-and-hay to a beautiful, bedecked Bengali bride and reaches the countless pandals of Kolkata. Kumartuli came into existence when British East India company decided to build there colonies at Fort William in 17th century. The workers(based on there skillsets) were distributed into locations and the Kumars/Potters then dwelled at Kumartuli. The potters, along with the pots, started creating the clay images which were worshipped across the mansions,cities and across the country eventually.

Lets ride to the present tense now,There are different stages to the whole process of making Idols. On Akshaya Tritiya, clay for the sculptures is collected from the banks of Ganges. A handful of soil (punya mati) is collected from the nishiddho pallis of Calcutta, and added to the clay mixture which goes into the making of the Durga sculpture.

The above four lines are literally insufficient to describe the idol making process.It is way beyond this. All I can say is that the kumars pour in there lives into the idols by working day in day out to finish the job before it reaches the date of deployment. Yes,they too have deadlines and clients!

As you enter the ‘bazaars of the gods’, you as a photographer need to pay some fees to have a hassle-free ride and then you are officially eligible to capture the photographs or watch them work. May be that’s how the demand & supply concept works.Fair enough from our end. Because what you witness inside is priceless. You may still be the victim of some criticism from the workers if you are being a distraction for them but there concentration is appreciable. Around 500 workshops supply the idols to 90+ countries worldwide. Distractions, therefore, are not welcome. The hay is covered up with the clay followed by multiple layers of ‘x’ materials and glue to keep the idols intact, said one of the worker. The hay drastically reduces the weight of the idol and makes the portability easy.

Once you visit this place,you can witness a lot many things other than idol making.You will come across the lifestyle of these creators.These are the families where the generations are into pottery business,They are simple people clad in soiled lungi but trust me,there are magicians! These iconic idols will be proudly standing in the huge pandals across the world with lakhs of praying handsn

 

The city of Kolkata has a rich historic background being the capital of india pre independence and these compartmentalized historic locations in and around the old city are the results of the British East India company and the marwaris in 17th century.

          

This is one of the must visit place for the photographers and enthusiasts and you will get the best candid shots of idols and the artists in the bazaars. As you depart from the lanes of kumartuli,You will find some touch of old Kolkata with RD Burman and Manna dey songs reaching your ear,the sweet Bengali conversations,people selling almost everything at every possible place,the manually pulled cycles and carts,and the tram lines with very less frequent trams,a perfect package for every photographer at the cost of nothing. Basically it’s a paradise for every photographer and artist to feel the rich and incredible indian culture.

Written By -

Aditya Kulkarni 

Member , 21st The Club Of Photographers 

Photography work by Aditya kulkarni

©21st The Club Of Photographers

The most awaited event, inaugration ceremony of "The Smile That Never Fades" of 21st the club of photographers was succeeded with enthusiasm. It was the documentary based on special kids. the project came to existence after the struggle of three months.

      In this program the police commisioner of nasik and additional commissioner of maharashtra police     Hon'ble Sir S. Jagganathan and the commissioner of income tax Mr. Kapoor sir and the founder prabodhini trust Rajanitai Limaye were present as chief guest.

The documentary was screened 6 times in the entire day as per the schedule. Got great response on these screenings from nasik. One screening was specially reserved for these special kids. More than 500 citizens as well as more than 100 special kids watched this documentary.

First time in nasik, a documentary was launched and screened and blazed a trail.

The only and selfless intention behind all this day and night struggle was to increase the acceptance of these special kids in the society. 21st the club of photographers has special lady wing for lady
photographers. This club always prove their uniquness from their work and likewise they initiated this conspicuous event.

As well as got great cooperation by Prabodhini Trust and their magnificense came to existence in the form of documentary. The founder of prabodhini trust Mrs.Ranjnitai Limaye and managing superintendent Mrs. Sangeeta Patil were overwhelmed by seeing the documentary. People had tears in eyes but with the smile of satisfaction as well.Mr. Jagganathan sir and Mr. kapoor sir appreciated the documentary and also assured to take it to the upper level. The founder of the 21st Mr. Sagar Kolhe also shared his experience of making the documentary.He thanked for such a great response from nasik. He also said that 21st will come up with more unique and admirable programs and requested people for keep loving and cooperating them.

 

 written by - 

Akanksha Borse

The Part we were waiting for in the "Avishkaar - Photography Exhibition", The Special Hour, for the Special Kids.The scene still in front of my eyes, we were waiting for them, they, being the V.V.I.Ps of our Exhibition, had to be Fashionably Late. As soon as the bus of Prabodhini Trust arrived, we all went running to the entrance to welcome our guests. Each and every Student coming out of the bus, had his own paradigm, had a different look from the other, and the most amazing point, Every Kid had a smile different than the other, say peculiar, say special, but in their own way.We noticed the Kids moving out of the bus in pairs, yes pairs, holding hands, as if symbolising capability to take up responsibility and flaunt with their compatibilities !Then we guided the Kids to the exhibition, where they with due discipline formed a queue, waiting for their turns to view the next Photograph. We many a times going so much into the technicalities, just forget to merely enjoy the Photographs, without going much deep into the specifications I mean, but these Kids I tell you, were so excited and were so receptive about everything coming in front of them that it was then that I realised the actual beauty of a few photographs. A few images were unnecessarily found funny by them, which in turn made us laugh too, their laughing, happiness, being so infectious. They sincerely answered and responded to every questions, like, what's the color of sky in this picture, how many boats are there, at times they even laughed at the brilliance of the photo captured, at times displayed their sympathy towards the character/scene in the photograph, a few photo

,were just ignored by them, being too complicated for their brains to compile and make up into a story. Images having Gods in them were treated with a complete Awe and they went like "Oh Ganpati Bappa" ! These Children, had a total different perspective, towards everything, but there were times when I just couldn't differentiate between them and we grown ups, I mean, they being so small, showed an utter sense of Understanding and Caring, there was this one girl, who fell down in the queue as she just neglected a stone, the other girl, her partner asked her almost hundred of times whether she was fine, trust me I was waking beside them, and she after few minutes pased, she went like "did you get hurt ? Are you fine now ? Walk taking care this time ! " I was just surprised to notice that these people are so so bothered about the events talking place around them, about someone getting hurt, taking it as their own problem ! Really, it was this moment and the one I mentioned above, that how they entered in pairs, that entering in pairs wasn't as a fashion parade, but they actually did take up each other's responsibilities. After that, when the the Club members distributed biscuits to them, to my astonishment, what they did was, ate biscuits till the felicitation ended, and later came up to us, asking for where the dustbin was kept, trust me, I'm fed up telling friends and family not to throw papers, wrappers just anywhere, These Kids just made me so so proud, So Disciplined that their conscious didn't allow them to throw wrappers anywhere but the dustbin, From then, those have become my favourite set of people. I mean what I haven't been able to do in years, this Trust, Prabodhini Trust, has made it possible in such a short amount of time, I mean they've groomed these kids so well, that these kids, no more remain an agony, or an embarrassment, others will only feel proud of them, and nothing else ! Salute to the Staff of Prabodhini.

                                  

                                     

The teachers of Prabodhini were so thankful to us that we called their kids to witness the exhibition, and they said they'd really love to vist all our future exhibitions. The Special Kids gifted us with very special gifts, handmade File, handmade Roses, which were the most beautiful ones I've ever seen ! While these Kids were leaving, I don't know why, but almost everyone got emotional, I thought it was just me who thought time passed so fast, but when I looked around, everyone was caught up in the same.

                     

               

the hall is felt so empty after they left, the photograps being where they were, it was us, who had a new paradigm, a new smile. SAgain, holding hands, we walked them to their bus, where we got a lot of handshakes, bye byes and not to mention but many flying kisses as well.this was our Special hour, with the V.V.I.Ps, the "Special Kids" !

Written by -

Sukanya Wable ,

Blog writer, 21st The Club Of  Photpgraphers

Special thanks to Sangita Patil ma'am , Prabhodhini trust.

Event Supported by - Shri.Sudhakar Badgujar

21st - The second name of success

It was back then, last may-June we remember, what struggling days those were! Photography was limited only to Professionals and it took great efforts for amateurs to get to them, so it was then that The Idea of our sweet "Little" Club came into Sagar Kolhe's mind. He thought why should such an art be limited to people who already know it, and why shouldn't it be spread to people who Wanted to know it !!So this Group Actually started with just few Members, and I remember our 1st Photo walk to Ramshez comprised of just 10 people ! And the amount unexpectedly increased to 37 in the consecutive Photo walk to Meri, if seen in today's date, we already have members more than 120 or so. Well it's not just matter of figures, it is more of reaching a summit and realising "Gosh ! That was far" moreover, the best part of being in this group is, "There is NO Hierarchy in this group", no one's designated higher than anyone, the Members learn the art through other members who sometime had been there in their spot !Well people reading about us in the newspaper or coming to us at present day must be thinking what an Established Group of Photographers it is, but like an Ice berg only one tenth of total struggle is seen...In our Initial days, when we needed that support, that guidance, there weren't much of people with us, which indeed put us down, but not Forever !Sagar knew his plan of uniting all the Artists in Nasik will work, and members believed in him.Sagar has this strange yet releasable Concept that let it not just be about Photography, and introduced many more, I'd rather say almost all artists in the group. There are Orators, Blog Writers, Dancers, Singers, Directors, Rangoli Artists, Painters and what not Sagar has Created a whole Army of Artists !!

When it came to what this Group can best be named... There were hurricanes in their heads... Sagar & Harshal thought all sorts of names... As in relating to camera parts and what not, finally getting fed up, these guys did some browsing and realised a peculiarity, no group was yet named after any number, sand almost everyone is aged around 21 or so.. And it's an universally Accepted Lucky number, so why not go for it ?!(And coincidentally the date that day was 21st June)So like this it was then after more thinking officially launched on 24th June 2015 Once the group was formed, Sagar thought of taking it to an altogether New Level by introducing An Photography Exhibition.For that since Sagar, didn't even had Person vehicles, travelled Everywhere in Public Transports and conducted almost 48-49 meetings in search of Sponsorship, as money was a great issue, no one amongst the Club members were that rich. Travelling here and there no thought about food in mind no time limits about reaching home, endlessly just one thought in Mind, I have to take my Group on an altogether Different level".A Club member Atharva Patil suggested talking to Mr Sudhakar Badgujar

about sponsorship, they went for the same, He loved the Idea ,  he said he really loved the Idea,  Later one day all of a sudden Mr Badgujar gave Atharva a call and gave us a clean chit,...and deepak badgujar also taking a lot efforts for sponsorship. It was A treat for all of us. After that whatever Sagar decided, he made it happen, lt it be our 1st event Avishkar, our first ever official blog launching or photo walks, It was as if everything was conspired by the Universe to take place like the way it took !! The best part is, We the club members have seen so much of hard time that we've all come up really strong now, let it be the negativity of people in the beginning, or the graphic designer leaving us in the middle of everything, or some internal conflicts between the members, it is Today, Wednesday the 6th all those pains just proved to train us, to make us stronger, to push us, and finally, here are we, Already had a Grand Success in the Recent event by us "Avishkaar", the applaudable response, of all our struggling, sleepless nights, all kind of proved the fact that when you are in want of something, the universe does conspires to make it happen !!! Cheers !!

Written by -

Sukanya Wable

Blog Writer,21st The Club Of Photographerss