West Bengal - Terracotta temples

Terracotta,  or unglazed fired clay products, is an ancient art form in India. It seems to have developed as an extension of pottery-making, which is possibly the oldest craft practised by mankind after the making of stone tools. 

It was of course much later, possibly around 700 or 800 CE, when temples began to be built in India that ways had be found to decorate the temples with sculptures, and it was mostly in stone in those days. Sophistication in temple architecture progressed with time and finer and more elaborate carvings began to be made by the 15/16^th centuries. 

Yet finer designs and in less time and less effort came with the development of terracotta tiles to decorate temples with. Necessarily, terracotta generally flourished where stone for temple building was scare and clays were abundant, as found in the numerous river basins, such as the Kangsabati, the Damodar, Ajoy, Rupnarain rivers and of course the Ganga (Hooghly) in West Bengal. It was of course to some extent deliberate because of the ease and the sophistication of designs that could be made in clay relative to that in stone.  This found a great flowering in the late 17^th, through the 18^th and into early 19^th century. A good part of this now has become part of Bangladesh but a great deal remains in West Bengal to be enjoyed in towns such as Bishnupur, Kalna, Ilambazar, Guptipara and elsewhere in the Bankura and Midnapur districts of the state. These sites are quite easily accessible from Kolkata by journeys of just three to five hours by bus, vehicle or train.

The "Jor-Bangla" temple in Bishnupur

"Raghunath" temple in Ilambazar

A hunting scene on Jor Bangla

A detail with Shri Krishna in Shyam Rai temple, Bishnupur

  

As the above illustrations indicate, the motifs for the sculptures in the terracotta are diverse, ranging from the secular, such as wars and royal hunts, to the common devotional theme of Shri Krishna with the gopinis in Vrindavan. Tile after terracotta tile is placed on the basic superstructure of the temple, made here mostly of laterite blocks, to create a wonderful piece of art. 

Barrackpore - once a colonial outpost

Much has been lost in Kolkata (till 2000 known much more widely as Calcutta, the first capital of British India) over the last one hundred years or so; but much still remains. Thanks to the personal interest taken by Shri Somen Mitra, Additional Director General of Police (West Bengal Police), the Governors' House in Barrackpore near Kolkata has received a new lease of life. Slowly, the classical architecture with the Doric facade is emerging out of the dust and shadows of years of neglect.

Barrackpore can be easily reached by a short drive of less than an hour from Kolkata along the Barrackpore Trunk Road, turning left at Chiria More, or four-way crossing, towards the Barrackpore Cantonment; the main sites are to the left shortly beyond the small Lady Hardinge Bridge. One may go in a shorter time of about half an hour from Sealdah Railway station by suburban train up to Barrackpore; but such trains tend to be quite crowded.
The history of the governor's house at Barrackpore goes back to the life and  times of Lord Wellesley, governor-general at the Fort William in Calcutta in 1798. Since then it has served as the country residence of successive Governors-general and Viceroys of India under the British colonial rule, till India achieved Independence in 1947.

 

It was in the adjoining military cantonment at Barrackpore, that Mangal Pandey, a sepoy in the Native Infantry, lit the lamp of revolt against the British military establishment, that saw its rise into the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 (also known as India's first War of Independence) against British misrule in India. 

Barrackpore is a short journey by local suburban train (best over a week-end) or by car from Kolkata. After passing "Lat Bagan" (literally, the governor's garden) at Barrackpore,  one would have get permission from the local Directorate of Police Training and proceed to the Lady Hardinge Bridge a short distance from the "White Tiger Statue". The small museum in the basement of the Governor's House is a "must see" for local history - indeed for modern Indian history.

  

Partition of India, 1947 - another look

For most persons in India over the age of 70 or 75, the Partition of India in 1947 was a traumatic experience. So many people in Bengal and Punjab lost a hearth and home or loss of livelihood or worst, a loved one. There have been many books, highlighting one aspect or the other of that tragic event. The "blame game" has been on now for the past 50 to 60 years; but "finger-pointing" has not helped the people of the sub-continent really to come to terms with the unfortunate developments. For that, perhaps a look inwards into ourselves, as we are with our respective identities, would help.

I have attempted this in my book , "A Partition in the Mind" (published by CinnamonTeal Design and Publishing). But identities do not develop overnight and I had to go back quite a good bit into time and into history of the sub-continent for this purpose. There were many strands of events and experiences to be followed up, some hardly ever thought to be even remotely associated with the Partition. There was, of course, a large "dramatis personae", ranging from social, political and religious reformers, British governors-general and vice-roys and officials, as well as politicians like Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah who played major roles at one point of time or the other.
An interesting aspect  of this work has been the repeated confrontation with "historiography": not only "who" said "what", but also "why".
I am particularly beholden to the many scholars whose prior work - over a 100 books are mentioned in the Bibliography - helped me to get closer to the subject matter in its many dimensions.  Hopefully, this book will interest others also to delve into their pioneering work.