19th November 1980
am Left Krishnanagar and came back to Cal. Went to Dutta house. After some conversation Bhavani and Deb showed me some porcelain figures (the largest being @ 10") collected by grandfather.
Kali in relief for 'Sri Ganga Charan Das' made by B.Rigold and Bergmann (made in Germany but the name London also or the trademark area).
Durga in relief for 'Sri Satya Charan Das' also of B.Rigold and Bergmann. Both were glazed and had gold paint-Dresden?
Other figs: Saraswati (@2"/3") numbered 3362 and coloured and Ganesh (same size) numbered 3363 and coloured. Annapurna numbered 145. Shiv/Parvati numbered 167 (17). Kali (bama and un-Indian and rather like a copy of the Solvyns painting) numbered 14.
Bhavani took me to Shiv temple built by Madhan Mohan Dutta's 2 sons. Quite large, sparsely decorated. Charbangla in brick and stucco (?)-thick bricks. Inside very large Shiv linga with a self-contained staircase in front to enable the priest to pour the necessary on top. Inside blackened by camphor a tall dome. Then went to another area of Nimtala ghat which belongs to another branch of the Dutta family-there was also a Shiv temple (small and atchala) beside the house. The lane its down is Madhan Mohan Dutta Lane-though I think the name of the lane has been changed now.
A large part of this area belongs to offshoots of the Dutta family. The original part of the Dutta house was in the area but now it has been destroyed and no thakur dalan left. There is a new thakur dalan in this area (heavily whitewashed NB as most of the thakur dalans are in this old part of Cal i.e.Pathuriaghat/Nimtala Ghat/Hatkola) and in the courtyard are metal figures of cupids etc in heavy baroque style. There are also fittings for gas lights around the sides of the courtyard (this is also quite a common feature of the Cal dalans-incidentally the thakur dalan of the Rashmoni family has a chandni in front).
20th November 1980 - Kumartuli
21st November 1980 - Calcutta State Archaeological Museum
22nd November 1980 - Krishnanagar + Nabadwip
23rd November 1980 - Krishnanagar + Shantipur
26th November 1980 - Mecheda + Tamluk
30th November 1980 - Krishnanagar