Clay Images of West Bengal

The mansions or rajbaris of the wealthy zemindar families often contained an annexe or separate building used for annual festivals. They are flat-roofed buidlings called Chandi mandap or thakur dalan and are built on a north-south axis so that the images face south when they are installed. In some cases two such buildings are made. B.W.Ward said in 1811 that a separate temple on the same plan as the Chandi mandap is erected by rich men for the celevration of Shyam (Kali) puja. In the now derelict Nakashipara rajbari Nadia district there are two mandapas one for the annual Durga puja in the autumn and the other for Vasanti puja in the spring and all the other pujas celebrated in that household such as Kali, Lakshmi and Kartik pujas. Some of the mandapas or dalans can be extremely ornate such as the Durga dalan in the Krishnanagar rajbari erected by Maharaja Rudra Ray in the late 17th c. These dalans are rectangular, flat-roofed buildings with pillared facades leading down to steps. In Calcutta, homes belonging to the old zemindar families had a dalan placed at the end of the courtyard. One plate in Charles Coleman's book 'The Mythology of the Hindus' (1832) shows a Durga puja scene in which the guests are enjoying a 'nautch' or dance in the courtyard with tarpaulin drawn over it. The dalans were invariably in white plaster.