Moortighor, Renewal of Kumartuli Idol Maker’s Colony

Typology – Religious / Public

Location – Kumartuli, Kolkata, West Bengal [IN]

Client – Kolkata Municipal Development Authority, Kumartuli Busti Foundation

Built up Area – 15 Acres

Site Area – 30 Acres  

Status: Unbuilt / Research Proposal

The Durga puja is a celebration where the Goddess descends into the city as it transforms into a surreal event of fantasies & ethereal tectonics. Amid these new emerging cartographies, the urban fabric transforms into an exhibition. While the city indulges in the romanticized product, the artist however succumbs to the realities of the harsh world and fails to narrate the importance and circumstance of the extensive process in and of its subalterned situations. Kumartuli is a densely populated labyrinth with layers of spatial conversations, traditional knowledge, dwellings & workshops, through which men, women, children, Gods, and Goddesses alike craft their way. The process of synthesis here, occurs in such synergy between man and God, that within its narrow lanes and bustling environment, the maker becomes truly indistinguishable from their makings. Kumartuli morphs into a sacred theatre for divine choreography which transforms the simple into extraordinary. It changes craftsmen into artisans; artisans into creators; creators into God Makers. It is hence incredible that the city indulges in the festival in complete ignorance of the real creators of the Goddess. It's these god-makers who sustain and create in a neighborhood that is gloated with broken roads, shambolic living conditions, lost linkages from the city & a desperate lack of basic infrastructure and hence are driven into a limbo of perpetual evanescence despite their creations revered but at the expense of their own stories never told, or heard. This undying friction between the city, the systematically subalterned, traditional craft, and community sustenance remains largely unnoticed from the grander scheme of things. The research intends to delve deeper into the aspirations, dwelling patterns, and spatial vocabularies of these invaluable craftsmen. It shall strive to lead to a set of understandings, analyses, and recommendations of suitable methodologies for the revival and renewal of the idol-making community of Kumartuli while addressing multiple underlying issues in the wake of Craft, Dwelling, and Festivities.