Bonedi Bari Durga Pujo 11: SARDAR BARI

II Bonedi Bari Durga Pujo 11: SARDAR BARI II
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Sardar Bari Durga Pujo was started in 1942 at the family home in the village of Azizpur in Khulna District of Bengal on the purpose built Thakur Dalaan of the house, which was named Udayachal. The village itself is located opposite Taki on the other bank of the river Ichhamoti (pronounced Issamoti by locals) and exists even today. As does the house itself, along with the Thakur Dalaan.
Following the Kathamo Pujo on Janmashtami that year, the idol of Devi Durga was constructed. However as the idol of the goddess evolved, it was clear that the face of the deity was closer to the then recent ‘modern thakur’ and not the classical form. An attempt was made to improvise the deity’s face and bring it as close as possible to the classical form. What resulted was a unique fusion that is found nowhere outside the Sardar Bari Pujo. This idol was 11 feet tall, 7.5 feet wide and 4 feet in depth. A fitting idol for the grand Brihot Nandikeshwar style of puja that the family had chosen to conduct.
Thereon, the pujo became an annual event on the Sardar calendar and was celebrated in grand style each year. At the time, most members of the family lived in Calcutta for considerations of business, education and so on. So each year the family would travel to Hasnabaad, where they had some relatives, board the family bajra (river barge) and cross the Ichhamoti to head home for the festival. Given the vast numbers of people who used to flock from nearby villages to visit the house during the pujo, an ananda mela type festival started to establish itself outside the gates of Udayachal. A man would travel down from outside Bengal (probably Kanpur or Varanasi) a month or two before the pujo and start making fireworks at home, which would then be used for dazzling show of pyrotechnics during the festival.
The pujo continued thus and even the horrors of Partition failed to put a stop to the annual extravaganza. At the time, special passports were issued (in addition to the normal ones) to families who needed to travel back and forth between India and newly created Pakistan. Naturally, all members of the family got one for their annual visit to East Pakistan. This continued till 1956, when Pakistan – West and East, were put under martial law by order of General Ayub Khan. That year, while the pujo was in progress a company of Pakistan Rangers, accompanied by the local district administrator, marched into Udayachal. They remained stationed there for the rest of the pujo and were quartered in the Kachhari Bari (office building) that was attached to the house. They were polite, caused neither harm nor disturbance, but the message became clear when after the pujo the family received a notice that the house was to be requisitioned by the Pakistan Army.
That year the family left Khulna for good and moved everything to their home in Calcutta. In 1957, the pujo was conducted in the same grand style at our Calcutta residence – christened Sukhatara, in Hatibagan, which had been acquired in 1951. Of course, minus the ananda mela outside the gates. At the time there was no Thakur Dalaan at Sukhatara and the pujo was conducted under a shamiyana or pandal. By 1958, a dalaan began to be constructed and that year the pujo was conducted in a work in progress dalaan. By 1959, the dalaan had been completed and it is here that the Devi resides each year without fail.
One of the curious aspects of the original dimensions of the idol was that the idols were all squished together and eight of the ten hands of the goddess would remain hidden behind the idols of Lakshmi (to her right) and Saraswati (to her left). This aspect remained till the 1960s and is visible in old photos that exist. Over the following years the dimensions of the idol were changed and increased, bit by bit, to its current 13 feet by 9.5 feet by 5 feet, which gave it a wider platform and made the idol more stable when bringing down the steps of the dalaan on Dashami when the goddess returns to her heavenly abode in Kailasa, via Visharjan. Not to mention, all ten hands of the goddess are now clearly visible. Another milestone was crossed in the years to follow when instead of crafting the goddess’ face by hand, as was custom till then, a series of clay and plaster of Paris moulds were made to preserve the exact and unique face of the idol.

Special thanks to Subrata Sardar, Aninda Sardar and other memebrs of Sardar family.
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