Clay Images of West Bengal

According to popular tradition, it was Raja Nabakrishna Deb who brought the kumars to Calcutta. He wanted to celebrate Durga puja in honour of the British victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 so he summoned a kumar from Krishnanagar to make the clay image for his puja. Eventually several other well-to-do families wanted to follow the Raja's example. As a result the kumar was inundated with work and complaining because he had to travel from Krishnanagar asked for a permanent residence for himself and his apprentices. His wish was granted and Kumartuli was established in the north of Calcutta as a centre for clay art.

There were a number of influential families living in Calcutta in the 18th c. Some of them are mentioned in a couplet told to me by a kumar which translates as follows:

'Jagatseth's money

Umichand's beard

Banamali Sarkar's house

Govinda Mitra's walking stick.'

The Jagatseths were influential bankers, Banamali Sarkar street is the street which runs out of Kumartuli into the Chitpur Road on which is the temple of the Mitra family. Govinda Mitra was known as the 'Black Zemindar' who sepent large sums on temple building and the performance of magnificent puja celebrations. He was probably one of the earliest to determine the social behaviour of the elite groups of Bengalis living in Calcutta at the time.

Many of the kumars who first settled in Kumartuli were probably from Krishnanagar although today they come from various districts. Sankar Sen Gupta suggests that a few kumar families from the towns of Shantipur, Krishnanagar, Nabadwip and Meturi in the Nadia district moved into Calcutta in the late 18th c and settled on land owned by Govindra Chandra Mitra. According to others it was land owned by Gokul Mitra.