North Kolkata
Kumartuli
Where the goddess is built, every autumn, out of river mud.
- Known for
- Clay idol makers
- Best hour
- September mornings, 7–10am
- Walk
- 35 min, 5 stops
Three hundred years of potters in a few narrow lanes, building the goddess out of river clay and straw every autumn.
Photographs
Photographs of the quarter. Open one to see it full size.
Must-see buildings
Kumartuli Ghat
Where the clay comes ashore and the idols go back into the river.
Kumartuli Park pandal ground
Empty for eleven months, then one of the north's better theme pandals.
Banamali Sarkar Street
The oldest run of workshops, some in the same family for six generations.
Where to eat
Cha and telebhaja
Any stall on Rabindra Sarani
The workshop diet, more or less exclusively.
Kochuri
Sovabazar corner shops
Before nine in the morning or not at all.
Things to see
- 01
Chokkhu daan on Mahalaya
The eyes painted in three strokes. Arrive before dawn.
- 02
The straw armatures in July
Nothing but bamboo and rope. The whole thing before it is anything.
- 03
Immersion from the ghat
Dashami afternoon into the night, from the same steps the clay arrived at.
Stories
Where this sits
Loading map
27 quarters · pinch or use + / − to zoom
