As a child, Shantanu Pal (name changed), a potter in Calcutta바카라s Kumartuli, would be intrigued when his father, a reputed idol maker, would instruct his helper to get ready and leave in the dead of night. The helper would be back by early morning with mud wrapped in newspapers in a nylon bag, wash his hands and feet and change clothes. His father would then ask the helper if he had any trouble, and he would answer yes or no, giggling at his own narration of victory. This would usually happen at the beginning of monsoon, some 3-4 months before Durga Puja.
Growing up, Pal realised his father had pious intentions behind sending the helper at that hour to collect soil from outside the door of a sex-worker at Sonagachhi, Asia바카라s largest red-light area, to make his Durga idols.
Soil from outside the door of a sex worker is considered mandatory for making Durga idols, but sex workers have often resented the practice, and, according to some artisans of Kumartuli, the hub of idol making in Calcutta바카라s north, they often also demanded money for the soil. Hence the secrecy. Organisers of community pujas or well-to-do families hosting family pujas would, however, pay Rs 101 to the sex worker from outside whose home the soil was being taken.
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Gone are those days. Shantanu has not sent any of his helpers in the past 10-15 years, as faith has given way to convenience. Like Shantanu, most other idol-makers now buy packaged soil.
Most artisans in Kumartuli are reluctant to talk about this, and almost never on record, as they fear this could harm their business. 바카라Sex workers were never happy with the practice, as they resented the way they are usually treated by society. So, the collection usually happened at night. My father feared that not mixing soil from the prostitute바카라s doorstep would bring him misfortune. But we the younger generation are using packaged soil, just like devotees use packaged Gangajal instead of collecting it from the river,바카라 says a renowned Kumartuli artisan who does not want to be identified.
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Sex workers continue to highlight the practice when protesting injustices. In the beginning of October, with Durga Puja barely a week away, sex workers of Sonagachhi announced they would no longer allow puja organisers to take soil from outside their residences, to protest provisions of the draft anti-trafficking bill that they fear criminalises sex work. Quite likely, they thought this threat was potent enough to create an impact.
바카라If they don바카라t respect our existence in society, let us not be part of their festivals,바카라 Kajol Basu, secretary of Durbar Mahila Samanyaya Committee (DMSC), India바카라s largest organisation of sex workers, had told the media.
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The packaged soil sold in doshokarma bhandars바카라shops selling items for pujas and rituals바카라are branded doshomrittika, the ten soils, and sell for Rs 20 each. Doshomrittika is used in the worship of many gods. The mix is supposed to contain 10 types of soil, including soil taken from all four corners of a road crossing, both banks of the Ganges, from a bull바카라s horn, an elephant바카라s tusk, a boar바카라s tusk, a termite mound and a sex worker바카라s doorsteps.
Asked if he knew for sure if these packets of doshomrittika indeed contained soil from red-light areas, Anil Shaw, who owns a dashakarma bhandar at south Calcutta바카라s Kalighat바카라which, apart from being famous for the Kali temple, also houses a red-light area and a potua para, a hub of idol making바카라says, 바카라How would I know? We buy it wholesale. And who is enquiring if it has soil taken from bull바카라s horns? It바카라s all about faith.바카라
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According to Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, a scholar of ancient religious texts and retired professor of Jadavpur University, the practice does not date back beyond the 18th century. 바카라There is no reference of this practice in religious scriptures. It possibly developed in the 18th century, when Durga Puja started emerging as a major festival in this part of India,바카라 Bhaduri says.
He thinks the practice developed in order to accommodate every segment of society, especially with the belief that all women represented goddesses, something that has been mentioned in the religious text Chandimangal, and that the worship of the devi would remain incomplete if any woman were left out. 바카라Durga is everyone바카라s mother. Bengalis also treat her as a daughter. So, I think the practice evolved to accommodate women from all walks of life.바카라
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Durga Puja emerged as a major festival when families that grew wealthy under the East India Company, embraced it, starting with Maharaja Krishnachandra Ray of Nadia. Later, with the emergence of barowari (group of 12 eminences) and sarbajanin (community) pujas between the 18th and 19th centuries, this has continued till date.
Sex workers, however, contest the arguments. 바카라A couple of years ago, police were denying permission to a puja sex workers wanted to organise. Eventually, the permission came from the high court. So they decided to allow collection of the soil only for their own pujas,바카라 says Mahashweta Mukherjee, a spokesperson for DMSC.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Fallen Earth and Divine Soil")
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By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya in Calcutta
