Canes Craft of Bengal and Assam

Canes or rattans are long, slender stems of certain trailing or climbing palms. In places like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, naturally-growing cane is abundantly available.

Bengal and Assam being rich in raw materials has a large variety of beautiful cane products. The hill and the plain people, each have their own styles & designs. Apart from making baskets, cane materials are also turned into furniture items, comparatively more modern. In Assam the best known places for basketry and mats are Kamrup, Sibsagar and Nowgong, Coochbihar in West Bengal.

Cane baskets of various types are produced in different parts of the State and are used for various purposes. These are used mainly for carrying goods, storing grains and keeping valuables. Various tribes specially use the baskets for keeping ornaments and clothes with locking arrangements. In the plain districts of Assam, also a few persons keep their clothes etc. in cane suitcases. Extensive manufacture of `plucking baskets` is found in all the plain districts on a commercial basis. Generally, the tea planters purchase these baskets in big lots from time to time. Therefore, the manufacture of plucking baskets is a monopoly of a few big firms with substantial financial backing. These firms also manufacture various types of baskets used in the carrying of earth, coal etc.

In Assam as well in West Bengal, baskets are prepared in different designs and by different methods. They may be prepared of both bamboo and cane or cane alone.

The different methods of production is confined to the following types, e.g.
(1) Plaited or woven work,
(2) Wicker Work and
(3) Coiled basketry.

Plaited baskets
Plaited basketry consists essentially of 2 sets of elements i.e. warp and weft crossing each other. The baskets are prepared in different designs such as check, twilled, twined, wrapped and hexagonal. These Baskets mainly used for keeping clothes and ornaments, cane suitcases, etc. are generally prepared in this method.

Wicker work
In a wicker work, the warp is not pliable, but the weft is pliable and passed alternately over and under the warp. In this method, the warp is kept in a lesser rigidity. Plucking baskets are prepared by following this method.

Coiled basketry
In Coiled basketry the warp is arranged by cane of comfortable length. Before arrangement, such cane is soaked in water for few minutes to give it a flexible character. Simply binding coiled cane while the process of weaving is in operation, preserves the shape of the basket. Finally, the edge of the basket is stitched with a thin and flexible cane slip. Plucking baskets, ration baskets, baskets used for carrying earth, stone-chips, coal etc. are manufactured in this method,

Procedure
Weaving, twining and coiling techniques are used for making cane baskets and mats. The production of reed and bamboo involves the cutting of whole stems with a hacksaw. It is then sliced into splits of various sizes using a bill-hook or dao. Slicing is done longitudinally along the length of the densely packed fibres .A fairly smooth operation is done to retain moisture in the culm. Kerosene lamp is used to heat the cane before it can be bent into purely by hand. Occasionally the artisans use water to soften the splits.

Artifacts
Moshtha (multi-purpose floor covering), containers of various shapes and sizes tray. Floor covering mats, door mats, boxes, baskets, vases, bags, baskets, handbags, lampshades, furniture, container for drinking water, container for storing grain, lamps, lanterns, travel kit, sarki, chiks, curtains, dali, basket, pahi, tahuki, tapi, ganja , fish catching design, dhaki , big-size basket , pathia, small sizebasket, medhadambara, umbrella made of bamboo sticks

Lakshmi Casket
It is one of the oldest crafts of Bengal. The famous Lakshmi casket is double walled, cane inside, and bamboo twill work outside. This is generally covered with a red cloth on which seven decorations like floral designs are worked out of small shells. There are oval boxes, oblong jhimpis and flower baskets called phulsajis. These are beautifully decorated with floral, figured and geometrical patterns using coloured strands as also accessories such as shells, beads etc.

The coil is fixed to another by sewing strips. In this, there are two main varieties; the simple over coil where each stitch passes over the new portion of the foundation coil below, the other is where the figure of eight is worked . Here the stitch passes behind up, over and down under the preceding coil and right over the new coil. The fixing of the coil is done with bamboo splints. There is quite a wide variety in the coiled articles, ranging from rough storage jars to very elegant jewellery boxes.

Moorahs
Chairs (Stools) called moorahs are made of bamboo and cane. They are a major export item and are made in many parts of Haryana. With time and research the traditional moorah has undergone many changes in design and style. The seat is often artistically woven out of jute strings to make it more durable. A very large variety of items are made from raffia like baskets, trays, wall-decorations, children furniture being most attractive.

Cane or rattan is a kind of a climbing palm with long thin, solid and many joined stems. The stems are dried after removing the green sheath. It is extra ordinarily strong. After drying, the cane rods are cleaned and heated over a fire to make them pilable. Cane rods are used to make legs and supports and for actual interlacing cane splints are used. Low seats called mooras are made of bamboo and cane, the top being woven in artistic designs.

Rush Mats
Karai is a special kind grass growing wildly along the river banks. A peculiarity about this grass is that it can be used for the very fine varieties only when it grows wild. Every attempt to cultivate it has been frustrated because of the coarseness it develops when one tries to cultivate it.

Fine Art
This craft is a recent one and is located mostly in Shertallay and Mohamma in Alleppey district. Coarse grass is split open to remove the pith. To make a rush mat, generally 9 x 9, the pattern is first drawn out on the board with small nails. The grass splints are then guided through the nails or pins so as to fill in the pattern and each strand is bound to the other strands to ensure that the pattern does not disintegrate. These rush mats, mostly square and round, are used as floor coverings as well as wall-panelling.

Procedure
The grass is first dried for 15 days in the sun until the green colour turns to golden. The grass is made into small bundles with stone tied to each to protect them from being washed away, then left immersed down stream shaded away from the glare, with all the attendant risks when bundle are left in flowing river. This soaked grass is then to be stored in a shed. Then waste is separated from the fine fibre which is then split into thin wire-like strands for weaving. Twisted cotton yarn is used for the warp, after it has been rinsed in rice paste. The weaver sits on a low stool, to alternately press a split bamboo piece to do the necessary shedding. The warp threads actually pass beneath the sitting plank for as each weft is a separate strand it is not possible to use shuttle. The weft is therefore passed through the warp thread with the help of a long stick with a hole in it like a gigantic needle. Each grass strand, as it is to be pressed into the loom, is moistened with water. When the needle reaches the other end of the warp, the ends of grass are twisted and beaten into position by the reed, after which the sheding is provided and the weaver then starts again with a fresh strand to ensure closeness of the texture.

The Philosophy of Tripura Tantra

By Gopinath Kaviraj

Proportionately slight effort is enough for erasing slight vasanas. He whose mind has been made pure by good deeds in successive past incarnations, gains supreme results quite out of proportion to the little effort he may make - Tripura Rahasya, XIX, 65-66, Ramanashram edition

It is a truism that every system of theocratic culture in India has behind it a consistently evolved system of philosophic thought. It is difficult, in the present state of our knowledge, to give a definite idea of the number of such systems in ancient and mediaeval times and even of the extent of literature comprised under each. Continued progress in researches in this field is likely to yield fresh materials favourable to the better understanding of the true history and philosophic value of these systems. The work known under the name of "Tripurarahasya" (Jnana Khanda) forms indeed a highly important document in the history of Indian Philosophy, so far as the system of a section of the Sakta Tantra is concerned, and should be appreciated from that point of view.
The systematisation of Tantric Philosophy, on its Sakta side, does not, seem to have yet been seriously attempted. The Sarva Darsana Sangraha of Madhavacharya ignores the Sakta School altogether. So do the other compendia, earlier and later. (e.g. Saddarsana Samuchchaya of Haribhadra, Sarvasiddhanta Sangraha of Sankaracharya etc.). There are different lines of Sakta culture still in existence and we have reason to believe that some at least of these have preserved the philosophical tradition. The literature associated with the third Mahavidya, named Sodasi or Tripura Sundari is very extensive and presents several interesting feature of Tantrik literature. It is possible to construct a regular philosophy of the school out of the materials available to us and in this work of reconstruction the present treatise will, it is hoped, prove to be substantially helpful.
The Tripurarahasya, which claims to treat of the secrets of the Tripura Culture in all its aspects, is said to consist of three sections - viz. Mahatmya, Jnana and Charya. The Jnana Khanda has been published at Benares in a new edition1. The Mahatmya Khanda, of which (as of the Jnana Khanda) we have an original manuscript in the Government Sanskrit College, Benares, was entrusted for publication to the publishers of the Chowkhambha Sanskrit Series, Benares. The third section is apparently lost, no trace of it having yet been found. It is an extensive work of which the first two sections contain 2163 and 6687 verses.
The work is attributed to one Haritayana and the commentary called Tatparyadipika is from the pen of one Dravida Sri Nivasa, son of Vaidyanatha Diksita, resident of the village of Mahapuskara in the Dravida country. The commentary was composed in 4932 Kali Era (1831 A. D.). The text is in 22 chapters.
The book is in the form of a discourse delivered by Haritayana to Narada. This discourse professes to be a reproduction of the teachings of Dattatreya to Parasurama and claims to be based on personal realisation and reason.
The plan of the work may be thus summed up. Parasurama having heard Dattatreya's lectures on the greatness of the Supreme Deity Tripura Sundari as embodied in the Mahatmya Khanda expressed a desire to the Master to be enlightened on the methods of worship for propitiating the Goddess. He was subsequently initiated in due form into the mysteries of Tripura worship and practiced penances for 12 years, under instructions from his tutor, at a hermitage on the Mahendra Hill in the South. In the course of his spiritual exercises the ultimate problems of life and reality began to trouble his mind, and being unable to reach a solution himself be betook himself to the feet of his Guru for light and guidance. He has already heard a teaching on the subject from Samvarta, the great Avadhuta, on his discomfiture by Rama Chandra in the Treta age, but he had not been able to realise it at the time. He requested the master to explain to him the secrets of Samvarta's lessons, so that his doubts might be dispelled for ever. Dattatreya's response to Parasurama's question, interspersed with Parasurama's cross-questions here and there, constitutes the body of the Jnana Khanda. It would thus appear that the text of the Tripura Rahasya, which embodies the teachings of Haritayana to Narada, represents an old traditional lore of secret science originally revealed by Samvarta and subsequently expounded by Dattatreya to Parasurama.
The name Parasurama stands eminent among the votaries of Tripura. The Kalpa Sutra, treating of the secrets of the Tripura worship in ten Khandas and containing 335 Sutras, is attributed to Parasurama who is described as a scion of the family of Bhrgu, a disciple of Shiva and the son of Jamadagni and Renuka. This description of Parasurama implies that the Parasurama of the Tripura Rahasya is believed to be identical with the author of the Kalpa Sutras, though Pandit A. Mahadeva Sastri has, perhaps rightly questioned this identity2. The tradition has it that Dattatreya was the author of a Samhita work in 18000 verses which was known under his own name (viz. Datta Samhita). Parasurama studied the extensive work and, to bring its contents within easy reach of students, summarised it in a body of Sutras distributed into 50 sections (Khandas). This contained 6000 Sutras, The Samhita and the Sutra were both summed up, in the form of a dialogue between Dattatreya and Parasurama, by Sumedha (pupil of Parasurama). This tradition is found recorded in the Tripurarahasya, Mahatmya Khanda.
It is evident that the work of Sumedha, who was of the Harita family and consequently known as Haritayana, is really to be identified with the Tripurarahasya itself rather than with the Kalpasutras of Parasurama as Laksmana Ranade has done3, because the Parasurama Kalpa Sutra is not in the shape of a dialogue between Datta and Parasurama and is not attributed to Sumedha, whereas the Tripurarahasya has the form of a similar dialogue) 4and is ascribed to Sumedha Haritayana.
The line of Tripura worship is represented by several teachers. We have already referred to Dattatreya, and Parasurama. The names of Durvasas, Agastya, Lopamudra and several others may be added in this connection. Durvasas is associated with the authorship of a mahimnaH stotra of the Goddess, where he is described in the colophon as sakalAgamAchArya. Nityananda, who wrote a commentary on the above Stotra, says that Durvasas inter alia, Krodha Bhattaraka is really identical with Siva Himself, who is the Master of the teachers of all the Agamas (sakalAgamAchAryachakravatI.m), as born from the womb of Anurapa.
The Supreme Goddess is variously named - as Tripura, Sundari Lalita, Sodasi, Sri Vidya, Kamesvari, etc. She is called Tripura, in as much as Her Body consists of three Saktis, viz. Brahma, Vaisnavi and Raudri.5 The Tripurarahasya speaks of Her in the following terms:
tripurAnantashaktyaikyarUpiNI sarvasAxiNI .
sA chitiH sarvataH pUrNA parichChedavivarjanAt.h ..
The partial appearance of the Self as thus occurring is known as bAhyAvabhAsa, because such appearance implies the manifestation of what may be described as empty space which is other than the Self. Remembering that Chaitanya is all-embracing and can have nothing outside it - for if there were any such thing it would not shine out and would therefore be non-existent - what is popularly called the external is indeed only a reflection on Chaitanya as on a mirror. When the universe comes into being it does so as only an image within the unique Self. The universe as such is varied but underlying it is the pure and simple unity of Chaitanya revealing itself to the eye of diligent search (anusandhAna). The manifestation of the universe, due to the Free Will (svAtantrya) of the Absolute, is thus a process of Abhasa, - and for the initiation of this process nothing beyond the play of the Will is needed. The material and efficient causes, supposed to be necessary for every product, are held unnecessary.
The peculiar metaphysical position of the Tantra consists in the theory of Abhasa, which is consistent with this position. It rejects the Vivartavada of Neo-Vedanta, because the world is not originally a false appearance due to Error. It is real in the same way as an image is real, but it has no existence apart from the medium in which it is manifested. Its existence is only the existence of the medium. To the Vedantist the world appears as such to the ignorant owing to his ignorance and in the last analysis it is resolved into Maya which is not identical with Brahman and is material; but to a Tantrist the world is real and is expression of the Chit Sakti or Free Will of the Lord and is really spiritual in essence like the Lord Himself. In the last resort it turns back into the Chit Sakti which is never withdrawn, for the Will (svAtantrya) remains, even after the world has disappeared. The Vedanta system has had to fall back on the doctrine of Vivarta, because it denies in a sense svAtantrya to Pure Chaitanya. The first stadium of creation is thus an Abhasa. The second stage which represents the subsequent condition shows how the Chit Sakti, already appearing (AbhAsamAna) in the Pure Chaitanya, further progresses. Maya emerges on the scene now and the Vivarta is the logical outcome. The third stage marks how Maya becomes productive. This is the Parinama or Evolution which gets on till the bhutas spring into manifestation. The fourth stage which represents creation out of the bhutas is known as Arambha or physico-chemical process of genesis. From the supreme stand-point of Tantra, however, the entire Creation is an Abhasa.
As thus realised She is the Eternal and supreme Truth beyond all limitations consequent on time and place. She is the essence of Chaitanya and is called Lalita owing to Her transcendent charms. The Sakti Sangama Tantra observes that it is this Lalita which assumes the form of Krsna as Purusa. 6
Sundari is one of the ten Mahavidyas (Mundamala Tantra, Patala 1). It is said (Ibid) that the ten Vidyas combined form a Mahavidya, but Sodasi is a Mahavidya by Herself. The Todala Tantra (Patala 1) calls Maha Tripura Sundari by the name of Panchami with Siva (five-faced) as Her Bhairava. The Sakti Sangama however (Purascharyarnava, pp 13-14) makes Lalitesvara Her Bhairava. This is different from Tripura Bhairava (or Vikarala, the companion of Chhinna) and Ghora Bhairava (i. e. Kala Bhairava, the companion of Dhumavati).
The system teaches that the Supreme Reality is of the nature of Pure Intelligence, which is self-luminous and unaffected by the limitations of time, space and causality. It has absolute freedom (pUrNa svAtantrya) in as much as its Power or Will (sa.mkalpa) is unrestricted. This Power is really identical with the Essence of Chaitanya and remains either involved in it or expresses itself as its inalienable property. In the technical phraseology of the Shastra it is known as Vimarsa or Krpa, and is an eternal attribute of Chaitanya. The freedom referred to above implies that the Essence of Consciousness is free from vikalpas and is fundamentally distinct from matter. The Chaitanya is free, as it does not depend on anything else for its own revelation of matter.
The Power exists in a two-fold condition. What is generally known as creation or dissolution is in reality consequent on the manifestation of this Power or on its abeyance. It always functions, but its function is sometimes (e. g. during the creative period) expressed as the manifestation of the Universe till now absorbed in and identified with the Essence of Reality and at other times expressed as self-manifestation alone.
The Supreme Reality of the Agamas would thus seem to differ in a sense from the Brahman of Vedanta. Though both are essentially of the nature of Intelligence there is a fundamental distinction between the two. The Absolute of the Tantra is endowed with Power which is held to be identical with Itself and by virtue of which It is described as the Free Agent (svatantrakarttA). Freedom to act forms the essence of Chaitanya. In other words, according to the Tantric viewpoint, Siva and Sakti are aspects of one and the same Reality. But in the current non-dualistic school of Vedanta Brahman, which as in this Tantra is described as of the nature of Pure Consciousness, is no better than an action-less Locus (adhikaraNa), on which the Power, which is attached to It mysteriously and is neither identical with nor distinct from It, plays. It is conceived as a Pitha or passive background in relation to the active power operating on It. The Sakti, called Maya in the Vedanta School, is not thus of the nature of Brahman but is material (anirvachanIya), though it is held to be, of course mysteriously, subservient to it. But as conceived in the Tantra Sakti or Pure Freedom is absolutely non-material. The term Chit Sakti used to denote this power implies its spiritual essence.
What in the Tantras is known as vAhyAbhAsa or the manifestation of a non-ego (anahambhAva) within the Pure Ego (shuddhAtma) but appearing as external to it is tha Radical Nescience (mUlavidyA) of Vedanta. This non-ego is the so called Avyakta (Unmanifest) or Jada Sakti (Matter). But the Freedom or the Spiritual Power (Chit Sakti) of the Lord, as described in the Tantras, is beyond the Nescience referred to above, and to this Power the Advaita Vedanta seems to be a stranger.
In as much as the Avidya itself or the Material Power is a product of the Spiritual Power which is the ultimate source of all existence there is no discrepancy in the statement, often found in Tantric Literature, that this Power has three distinct states of its existence: -
(a) During the universal dissolution when the Self is free from all vikalpas the Sakti exists as Pure Chit Sakti or Chit Prakrti.
(b) When the vikalpas are on the point of merging - when though there is no vikalpa as such there is yet a tendency in the direction of vikalpas - the Sakti is called Maya Sakti or Jada Prakrti.
(c) But when the vikalpas are fully developed and materiality becomes dense the Sakti appears as Avidya.
It has already been observed that the appearance of the universe follows upon the self-expression of the Divine Power and the Cosmic End follows from the withdrawal of the self-same Power.
After the period of Cosmic Night is over the Will of the Lord, in co-operation with the mature adrsta of Jivas, manifests only partially, as it were, the Essence of the Self, whereby the Self is revealed as limited.
The appearance of limitation is thus the emergence of not-self, known as Avidya or Jada Sakti, called also by the name of Void (shUnya), or Prakriti or Absolute Negation or Darkness (tamaH) or Akasa. This is the first stage in the order of creation and represents the first limitation imposed on the Limitless. 7 The erroneous belief, generated through the Freedom of the Lord - the Self - that the Ego is partial (ekadeshika) and not full and universal (pUrNa) is responsible for the appearance of this Something which being a portion of the Self is yet outside of it and free from self-consciousness and is described as not-self or by any other name as shown above.
Thus the Supreme Reality splits itself spontaneously, as it were, into two sections - one appearing as the subject and the other as the object. The Purnahanta which is the essence of Supreme Reality disappears after this cleavage: the portion to which limited egoism attaches being the subject and the other portion free from egoism the object. The object as thus making its appearance is the Unmanifest (avyakta) Nature from which the entire Creation emanates and which is perceived by the subject as distinct from itself.
It has been observed that Chaitanya is of the nature of self-luminous Light (sphurat.h prakAsha), which may shine on itself (svAtmA), in which case it is known as Ahanta, or I-ness may rest on the Non-ego (anAtmA) and express itself as Idanta or This-ness. The essence of Chaitanya consists in the fact that the light (prakAsha) is always confined to itself. This universal Ego or 'I' stands, behind all dualism. The Supreme Ego is universal, as there is nothing to limit (parichCheda) or to differentiate (vyAvR^itti) it, and the entire visible universe exists in identity with it. But this characteristic by its very nature is absent from Matter (jaDa), which is not self-manifest. Just as light and heat co-exist in fire, in the same way universal Ahanta and Freedom or Sakti co-exist in Chaitanya. This freedom is Maya which though essentially identical with Chaitanya (chidekarUpa) brings out varieties of an infinite kind, but in bringing out this variety it does not in the least swerve from the Essence.
The appearance of the Universe in Pure Chaitanya is the action of Avidya, which has three distinct stages:
(a) The first is the germinal state (bIjAvasthA), when the material power, which is still in its earliest phase of manifestation, is pure. Matter does not assert itself at this stage and consequently there is no differentiation in experience. In other words, it does not yet appear as distinct from Chaitanya, though potentially it exists. This stage is represented by the five pure Tattvas, viz., Siva, Sakti, Sadasiva, Suddha vidya and Isvara.
(i) The Avidya, which has been described above as being the Chaitanya in its limited appearance as an object external to the subject is called Siva. In pure Chaitanya, owing to the play of Its own Will, an infinite number of limited aspects (spA.msha) arises. These are mutually distinct. From this point of view to every limited aspect of Chit there is a corresponding object external to it (bAhyAbhAsa), but to the Unlimited Chit or Pure Self (pUrNashrAtmA = parashiva) there is no externality. The universal (sAmAnya) common to all the pure and limited Chit aspects referred to above is called Siva Tattva. This Tattva is thus a Samanya holding within it all the Visesas, but Para Siva or Pure Self is transcendent and above both Samanya and Visesa. Hence Siva Tattva may be more properly described as Pure Chaitanya in its general but conditioned form, free from all Vikalpas and is to be distinguished from the Absolute proper.
(ii) The appearance of Siva (parichChinna nirvikalpachit.h) as aham.h is called Sakti. Although this self-presentative character (aha.mbhAsana) is in the essence of Chit, so that there can be in fact no differentiation between Siva and Sakti as such, the Chit is nevertheless known as Siva in so far as it is free from all visesas and as Sakti by virtue of its characteristic self-awareness (aha.mbhAsana).
When the self-presentation (aha.mbhAsana) is no longer confined to the Self but is extended to the not-self or the object (mahAshUnya) external to the Self it is known as Sadasiva. This state marks the identification of the Self with the not-self in the form "ahameva idam.h" and indicates predominance of spirit over matter.
(iv) But when matter prevails and the consciousness assumes the form "idam.h aham.h" the state is technically called Isvara.
(v) The term Suddha Vidya is reserved for the state which represents an equality in the presentation of the subjective and objective elements in consciousness.
(b) The second stage in the evolution of Avidya, described as a~nkurAvasthA, represents a further development of difference or materiality, when the subtle products of matter and spirit make their appearance. In this mixed condition both spirit and matter are equally predominant and the seven mixed (mishra) tattvas, viz, Maya, Kala, Vidya, Raga, Kala and Niyati reveal themselves.
(i) The confirmation of difference due to the Free Will of the Supreme, which characterises the second stage, has the effect of reversing the normal relation between spirit and matter. Thus while in the first stage described above Spirit or Chit Sakti dominates matter or Jada Sakti which exists in a rudimentary state, merged in spirit or Self, the second stage shows the preponderance of matter over spirit. Consciousness loses its supremacy and becomes a quality inherent in the material subject. All this is due to the emergence and development of bhedasa.mkalpa in Chaitanya. This material subject - which is matter prevailing over spirit and related to it as a substance to its quality - is called Maya.
(ii-vi) The five aspects of Maya are the five so-called Kanchukas which are the five eternal Saktis of Para Siva in a limited form. The obscuring power of Maya acts is a veil as it were upon the Omnipotence, Omniscience, Self-contentment, Eternity and Freedom of the Supreme Self and thus acting is known as Kala, Vidya, Raga, Kala and Niyati respectively.
(vii) The Pure Self as obscured by Maya and its fivefold activities appears as Purusha with its limitations of action, knowledge, contentment, eternity and freedom.
(c) The third or grossest stage in the evolution of Avidya is represented by the dense products of the mixed tattvas, where matter is overwhelmingly strong. This stands for the group of the twenty four tattvas, from the Primary Prakriti down to Prithivi, constituting the material order.
Prakriti, with which the lower creation begins, is indeed the assemblage (samaShTi) of the Vasanas of all persons with various and beginningless Karmans: it may be fitly described as the body of the Karman Samskaras of the Jivas, considered as inhering in Chit Sakti or Self. This Karma vasana or Prakriti is threefold according as the experience which is the moral outcome of this vasana is pleasant or painful or of the nature of a comatose condition in which neither pleasure nor pain is felt.
The Vasanas exist in a twofold condition, as Avyakta when they lie unmanifest in dreamless sleep or as Chitta when they manifest themselves in dreams and wakeful states. In the dreamless state there can be no experience of pleasure and pain, because the mature Karmans having been worked off through experience the others which are not yet ripe are not ready for fructification. It is a fact that Karmans, when they are matured by time, cause the Jnana Sakti of the Conscious Self to move outwards and have contact with the objective world. In a state of sleep such movement is naturally absent. But the process of time during which the sleep continues acts on the Karmans and matures some of them, so that the Jnana Sakti is allowed to come in touch with the external objects or with their eemblances and sleep is over. The Sakti as thus qualified by the body of Karma-Vasanas leading to contact with the objects and consequent enjoyment (bhoga) is known as Chitta.
The Chitta differs according to the difference of Purusa but it is one with Prakriti in dreamless sleep. Thus the Chitta may be viewed as Purusha or as Prakriti according as the conscious (chiti) or unconscious (avyakta) element prevails in it. It is not therefore a distinct category, but falls either under Purusa or under Prakriti.
Notes
1. This section was originally published in open leaves. But the edition became scarce and the growing interest in Indian philosophical thought rendered a republication of the text necessary.
2. Preface to the edition of the Kalpasutras of Parasurama as published in the Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. 22, in 1923 (P. VIII).
3. Preface to Parasurama Kalpasutras, P. X.
4. P. Laksmana was well aware of the weakness of his arguments, for he admits that the Kalpa Sutras is not in a dialogue form. He adds however that the concluding passage of the work shows that it is a dialogue between the Master and his pupil (Ibid.) (P.X). But it must be pointed out that there appears to be nothing in the text of the Sutras to warrant this inference.
iha khalu sakalAgamAchArya kravartI.m sAxAt.h shiva eva .
anurUpAgarbhasambhUtaH krodhabhaTTArakAkhadurvAsA mahAmuniH, etc.
5. See Puraischaryarnava, Sundarl Stava P. 20).
kadAchidAdyA lalitA pu.mrUpA kR^iShNagrahA . etc.
6. This is the view of the Sakti Sangama Tantra. But in the Vaisnavism associated with the name of Sri Chaitanya, Lalita is represented, not as identical with Krsna - which position is reserved for Radha -but as a Sakti, whose function is to preside over Nikunja, where the eternal sport of the Divine Couple takes place and from where all are shut out. Cf. Radhatattvasudhanidhi for further particulars.
7. It should always be borne in mind that the Absolute suffers no change, not even when through its power it assumes limitation. It remains always pure and undivided, although to those whose vision is dimmed it appears as multiple.
Artwork is © Jan Bailey, 1996-2006. Translations are © Mike Magee 1996-2006. Questions or comments to mike.magee@btinternet.com

Jhumur and Other Culture of the Tribal People

During the British rule in India many people(mostly tribes) from different parts of India came to Bengal and settled down permanently in her tea gardens. Most of them came from Chennai (Madras), Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamilanadu, (Andhra) Bihar. They were landless persons who were often neglected by the higher classes of the society on the one hand and exploited by the landlords or Zaminders on the other.
Properly speaking, they belonged to different castes, creeds and sects. But here in Bengal they have lived together, mixed together and created a new common culture. They are proud of this culture.
These people while living in their homelands observed some sorts of festivals and enjoyed pleasures and happiness in their sad life. They have not forgotten them. They have observed them in Bengal as they did them in the past of them mention may be made of the “Karam Puja”. It is the best national festival of the people of the tea tribe of Bengal, which they observed thrice a year as “Buri Karam”,”Ram Jumuir” and “Jitiya Karam”.
The people of the tea tribe of Assam observe many folk-dances for the sake of their mental gratification of which the “Jumur dance” is the best. They observe this dance in time of the Karam Puja, specialy the “Jitiya Karam Puja” held in the month of “Bhada”. The meaning of the “Jumur Nritya” or dance may be explained thus – “Ju (jhu)” means the atmosphere; “mur” mens the act of doing something moving in a circle or circling or surrounding; Hence the dance means the dance which is performed in a revolving or circling manner.
The Karam is performed in Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orisa, Tamilnadu and Chennai all differently but in the month of Bhadra. This puja is in vogue in Bengal. Its popularity is on the increase. People participate in the dance and song of the Jumur performed as an essential part of the Karm puja. However, the Karam-Puja is started on the fourth tithi of Bhada on the one hand and ended on the “Acadashi tithi” on th eother. The puja is held in a wide place. The “Karmatis” play an important part in the puja from the beginning to the end..
The ‘Jumur dance’ is chiefly matriarchal. It is seen that young girls or women mainly take an important part in it. But that is not the end of the matter however. The young people or men also participate in the Jumur dance. Thus it seen that the Jumur dance is an important concerted dance of the young boys an girls, or male and females performed in connection with the Karam Puja.
The important musical instruments used in the Jumur dance are the drum, madal (a long drum), cymbal, flute and so on. The Jumur dance begins with the beating of the drum used in the function. Then the young girls begin to dance in a circular manner catching each other together. Side by side the Jumur song goes on being sung.
The Jumur song is started with a prayer to the Goddess Saraswati. The themes of the songs of the Jumur dance are vast and varied. They speak of the different events that occurred in the life of Lord Krishna. Apart form them the songs give us a lively description of the variegated matters of the life of the people living in the tea gardens of Bengal.
There is no definite or fixed dress to be worn in the Jumur dance. Only the universal dress of the labour of the society is used in the dance. The dancers wear Sari and put on a kind of ornament named Dhutia around the fingers of their legs. Moreover, they were a flower – & specially a red flower on the plait of their hair.Most of the Jumur songs are of four lines. Of course, there are some lengthy songs which are more than four lines. Again, the songs may be divided into some divisions and they can be sung only according to time.
The people of the tea-tribe of Assam have formed an important part of her population. They love the state from the core of their –heart as their motherland and are ever ready to keep her glory and prestige insect. This is clear to us from the following Jumur song sung by them in the Jumur dance.–
“Hamara majdur kisan
Hamara rakhba Asamar man
Na balib par desh
Asam balib go mai Asam.”

The people of the tea-tribes of Assam have contributed much to her culture. Their festivals and Jumur songs and dances are attractive and pleasing. They have attracted all sorts of the people of Bengal. As such, their popularity is on the increase day by day.

All We Know!!

Anupam Paul Agril Development Officer Agril Training Centre Fulia-741402 West Bengal India
The travalogue of Huang Tsang(7th century),Tavernier(18th century),etc mentioned the remarkable yield of rice in India ,Coimbatore and Tanjavur district of Tamilnadu in particular. In Tanjavur it was 12-18 t/ha and the respective figure for South Arcot was 14.5t/ha.It is really amazing. The British people like A Walker(1820) and Dr J A Voelker(1893)recorded similar results. No hybrid is match for it.In Bengal the highest yeild recorded was 6.6 t/ha(1951) With the passage of time we have lost these region specefic varieties. That goes without saying that it was grown organically.We are proud for the loss so as to give access to MNCs for seed buisness.In Bengal province of India there was a very special cloth called MUSLIN -a 5 metre long and 1,5 metre wide could easily pass through a match box or through a ring .Itwas available during 18th century and the British had earned a lot by exporting to Europe. The thumb of weavers were cut brutally so that they could not weave and it paves the way for importing garment from England.

We are crazy about foriegn technology as if all of these are novel.We cannot think of our glorious past nor we think of bringing back some of the varieties. There are certain technologies by which the yield can be increased such as single plant trasplanting,soil management etc .We have tarnsplanted 97 folk rice varieties organically.The out put of last years(rice and straw) was very encouraging and farmers are amazed to see the glorious past.Some of the farmers are now cultivating the folk rice varieties of Bengal. It is to note that Bengal province once had 5800 rice varieties and India had 42000. Where are the varieties? The yield of some varieties are at par with a popular HYV though it(folk varieties) is grown organically.

GUAVA-LORE OF BENGAL

M. Bandyopadhyay, K. Chakraborti
Though guava was an introduction in India in the XVIIth century A.D. by the Portuguese but it is now one of the important subtropical fruits of India vis-a-vis West Bengal. In the last decade several commercial orchards were developed in South 24-Parganas, Midnapore and Nadia district of West Bengal. In the state, the crop presently (2003-2004) covers 9.00 thousand ha with a production of about 133.79 thousand mt. The crop ranks fifth in area after mango, banana, pineapple and jackfruit. The importance of this plant is deeply felt by various folk and tribal societies of Bengal. Hence guava plants have been used recently in folk rites, rituals and festivals. Folk healers use guava plant as folk medicines for curing ailments. The reiterative need of this species called for its salvation which acted as guava seedling germplasm conservation of today. Different folklores are evolved in the agrarian folk societies in the form of oral literature like proverbs, rhymes, riddles, folk songs etc. So guava-lore is the sum total of cultural heritage relating to guava which is preserved in folk memory, in oral tradition and perpetuated in folk practices. Bending of guava twigs is one of the important ITKs of South 24-Parganas of Bengal leading to good winnings in off season. This lore passes from generation to generation by simple word of mouth. In this treatise various categories of folklore and wisdom related to guava have been described in brief with special reference to Bengal.

The oral tradition in Bengali children's rhymes

Tagore's 'Lokashahitya'
Suchismita Sen
This article presents a translation and critical discussion of "Chhelebhulano Chharha," the first in a collection of essays on Bengali folklore entitled Lokashahitya [Folklore], published in 1907 by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Tagore's views on folklore composition as expressed in "Chhelebhulano Chharha" are significant from the perspective of contemporary folklore scholarship. There currently exists no other complete English translation. The essay is followed by a small collection of chharhas (rhymes) compiled by Tagore.
The poems that Tagore refers to as chhelebhulano chharha can be heard throughout Bengal, and are familiar to most Bengali children. Mothers, grandmothers, and nursemaids frequently recite them to soothe crying children, to distract them into eating, to lull them asleep, and to coax and console them in myriad other ways. Recitation occasions vary from peaceful afternoons and evenings when the mother is alone with her child to stressful mornings when she is trying to calm a screaming toddler as she prepares the afternoon meal. The poems thus express a variety of emotions, ranging from happy musings on the child to the general melancholy and sadness that Bengali women often associate with their own social condition. These poems thus furnish a convenient window to the inner thoughts of their composers, and also alert us to the type of cultural influences that Bengali children are exposed to as they grow up.
Tagore's empathy with romantic nationalism in his adolescence prompted him to collect folklore as early as 1883 (MUKHOPADHYAY 1975, 40). With the founding of the Bangiya Shahitya Parishat (The Bengali Literary Academy) in 1894 Tagore found an official platform from which to urge other scholars to collect these "relics of national treasure" (MUKHOPADHYAY 1975, 66). And there was indeed a spurt of activity in the editing and publishing of folk songs, folktales, and nursery rhymes during this period.
Lokashahitya was a pioneering effort in the context of the Bengali literary scene, because at that time very few intellectuals were interested in examining the Bengali folk tradition. Most educated Bengalis were products of the age of the so-called Bengali renaissance. Although it is not clear when the term renaissance was used in the context of nineteenth-century Calcutta, many contemporary Bengali intellectuals, including the novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) and the nationalist leader Bepin Chandra Pal (1858-1932), regarded the nineteenth century as a glorious period of rebirth when Bengali society revitalized itself as it came into contact with the West.
The period witnessed a two-sided process of acculturation, with representatives of Indian culture and European culture expanding and enriching their knowledge of each other (KOPF 1969, 5). British civil servants like Warren Hastings, William Jones, and others who served in India during the first part of the nineteenth century contributed significantly to the acculturation process. Unlike their successors, who did not mix with the Indians, these people learned Indian languages, studied classical traditions, and acted as interpreters of Indian civilization to the outside world. The Bengali intelligentsia, for their part, were exposed to the ideals of the European Enlightenment, acquiring through this a more secular perspective and a desire to raise the level of social consciousness. At the same time they were invigorated by their own newly rediscovered heritage. In this environment things like folklore and folk beliefs were viewed as superstitions, as faulty ideas that society needed to discard. Since, moreover, the Bengali renaissance was primarily an intellectual movement centered in and around Calcutta (a city founded by Western traders and later the seat of the British Raj), there was little involvement by the so-called "folk." With the rise of nationalism, however, attitudes started to change. In the field of Bengali literature, Tagore was instrumental in channeling much of the nationalistic fervor of his countrymen into appreciation for the older folk and epic traditions, including the medieval Vaisnava lyrics and the Baul songs. Not only did Tagore appreciate the vital role of folklore in sustaining Bengali literature, he was also able to arouse the interest of other intellectuals like Dinesh Chandra Sen and Jogindranath Sarkar in collection and analysis.
Tagore was aware of the multiform quality of folklore and recognized it as the verbal creation of the community. This being the quality that sets folklore apart from written literature, Tagore emphasized the importance of preserving variants. This awareness is noteworthy for two reasons. First, viewed from the perspective of the popularity of the "urform" concept among the romantic folklorists of his day, Tagore's position is distinctively modern. In fact, the recognition that the shape and nature of variants of a text depend on the context of the performance has revolutionized contemporary folklore scholarship (see VON SYDOW 1977, BOGATYREV and JACOBSEN 1929, and LORD 1960). Tagore says:
The characteristic primitive and natural rasa [essence] associated with children's rhymes attracted me to their preservation. This sense of primitiveness may not be appealing to everyone, but certainly no one can doubt that it is our duty to collect these rhymes for posterity. They are our national treasures. These rhymes, long stored in our society's collective memory, echo the loving voices of our mothers and grandmothers and reflect the rhythms of our ancestors' childhood play. Because of the rapid changes in our social structures, however, many things both big and small are being lost. The time has therefore come for us to collect and preserve these timeless treasures of our national past.
These rhymes have been collected from different parts of the country. As a result, one will notice variations in the dialect in which the rhymes are recorded. One will also find more than one form of the same poem, none of which are to be discarded. The reason for this is that there exists no such thing as a correct or authentic version among the variants. The rhymes have changed form so much as they traveled through time and from mouth to mouth that it would be totally inappropriate to select one particular version as representative. The variations are part of their essence. This quality of constant change is natural to them. They are not dead, unchanging relics from the past, they are alive and are capable of movement. They can make themselves suit the needs of the place and the time. In order to show this state of constant flux, it is essential to preserve the different forms. (TAGORE 1989, 169)
Tagore's appreciation of the above-mentioned ideal of rasa forms the second noteworthy aspect of his regard for the multiform in folklore. This concept, which forms the basis of the literary theories of classical Sanskrit, assesses the value of literature, both written and oral, on the basis of its communicative powers. These, in turn, depend on the arousal of sympathetic emotions in the reader or audience. Thus the context or locus of a composition and its attendant connotations play a significant role in its success. One notices a similar stress on context and associative meaning in the works of contemporary scholars on oral tradition and performance. FOLEY, for example, writes:
In the case of traditional oral narrative, the various words or units of utterance that constitute the idiom no longer defer simply to the meanings of the everyday language extrinsic to performance, but rather are charged with associative values particular to the event taking place. (1992, 283)
Although Lokashahitya is well known in Bengal, its ideas have not enjoyed the attention they deserve from folklorists. One possible reason for this is the excessively ornate quality of the prose. The overly figurative nature of Tagore's writing often gets in the way of clarity, and poses severe problems for translators. The problem is further heightened by the fact that Tagore approached the subject not as a scholar but as a typically romantic poet extolling the virtues of these simple, homely, oral compositions. Nevertheless, the ideas that are articulated in this essay need a fresh review because of their relevance to current scholarship on oral poetry.

A Chronicle of Colonial Calcutta

THE PARLOUR AND THE STREETS
Elite and Popular Culture in 19th Century Calcutta
By Sumanta Banerjee
Calcutta:Seagull, 1998, pp 248, Rs 395

THIS is a fine study of elite and popular culture in nineteenth century Calcutta and their interactions. The author has collected with meticulous care, the required materials and has brought in his imagination to make the analysis eminently elegant. In a sense, Sumanta Banerjee, through this writing, has provided the needed stimulus for similar initiatives by intellectuals of some other metropolis such as Madras or Bombay which saw as Calcutta did, a certain dualistic cultural growth in the wake of colonial administrative and economic growth.

The author first identifies the gaps in the pre-existing studies. One, as is pointed out, is the lack of an appropriate correlation in conceptualisations of cultural growth in a colonial society between socio-economic changes and cultural products. The Marxist initiatives in this regard also could not fructify, partly because the Marxist concepts and categories did not fit in with the social and economic situation then prevalent in Calcutta and partly because these were generally “urbanised or punctuated with slogans to meet the demands of an immediate political situation or to make them acceptable to the city's middle class audience”.

The major influence for the author in understanding the cultural scenario of nineteenth century Calcutta, specially the culture of the bottom, emanates from Paulo Freire’s widely acclaimed work Cultural Action for Freedom where ‘the culture of silence’ is formulated. Sumanta Bannerjee seeks to examine the process through which “the culture of the lower orders was silenced by an indigenous elite” in the nineteenth century Calcutta, an elite “whose thought patterns and attitudes were shaped by listening to the voice of the metropolis from England.” This sort of cultural division, however, has an element of unreality. For instance, how do we place Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar whose conceptualisation of modernity was essentially non-western and was not based on a distinction between bhadralok and chotolok discourses in culture?

A useful discussion on the nineteenth century Calcutta's economy and society is provided in the beginning. An interesting aspect was the neat bifurcation of the city between the White Town of the English settlers and the Black Town of the native population. The latter was developed by the new rich who came up mostly through their humble connections with the colonial rule. According to the author, there thus grew a parvenu class which was dominantly Hindu. But a moot point is why these parvenus, unlike in the west, could not contribute to Bengal’s economic growth. The author touches upon the caste transformation which was slowly then taking place in Bengal. As is pointed out, “the client-patron relationship based on caste... between the first native settlers... tended to break down by the middle of the nineteenth century”.

Two elegant narratives are on folk culture and elite culture in the nineteenth century Calcutta. The farmer's basis was rural folk art and literature which the in-migrants from the countryside brought in. However, there was an important element of assimilation from the new urban milieu as a result of which a distinctive urban folk culture came into existence.

The principal forms of folk culture persisted throughout the period, but each of them had a certain dominance at a point of time. The popular rhymes about contemporary events and characters were conspicuous in the early phase, while the second and third phases were marked by Kobi-walas and jatra-walas respectively, All their performances were warmly greeted by popular acclaim. However, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century there occurred “a furious struggle for existence by these folk artists in an unequal competition with new cultural artefacts (of superior technology) and in the face of an organised campaign launched against them by the educated Bengali gentry.” A major aspect of urban folk culture in action was to provide satire and fun with the result that there emerged “a gay carnival”. The folk artists, as the author points out, “created an irreverent and iconoclastic world in opposition to the bhadralok world of strict rituals and stiff restraints”. However, this market place culture was generally insensitive to some of the major events around such as peasant uprisings. This was because the artists were eager to avoid any confrontation with the Raj.

There is in the following chapter, a lively analysis of elite culture. Initially north Indian classical songs and dances were an important part of the Calcutta elite entertainments. However, from the middle of the nineteenth century the earlier eclecticism of the gentry began declining as the new generation of English-educated, thoroughbred bhadraloks, were determined to set up a distinct elite culture of their own. This, which was fostered by the Raj, actually grew at the expense of Calcutta folk culture in the course of time got peripheralised. The bhadralok’s alternative in culture to the folk jatra was the modern theatre which came up in plenty. Not only in terms of technology but also in terms of the performance and the character of the audience the new elite culture was different.

In the face of the rise of the new bhadralok cultural forms a segment of Bengalees’ common possession based on folk culture, mercilessly declined. As the author brilliantly sums up,” the nineteenth century elite culture was shaped by two prevailing attitudes — one, the tendency to despise the folk tradition.., under the influence of English education; and two, the desire to discover a cultural identity with the upper class literature, music and fine arts of the past based on Sanskrit classics and Mughal court culture”. Actually there arose a bilingual (bicultural) elite who refused to be wholly Anglicised and yet, kept themselves away from uneducated, unsophisticated masses.

There is a refreshing epilogue which seeks to show the current effort of the Calcutta elite to receive the folk jatra which, however, “in its form and content transformed almost beyond recognition in the commercial environment of the modern metropolis.” This, in the author's perception, is a case of “cultural imperialism”.
One may not agree with this, but Sumanta Banerjee has done an excellent job which deserves praise and emulation for similar constructions in other major cities of the country.

Neda-nedi: vaishnava-buddhist syncretists

The word neda indicates a man with a shaven head. Nedi means a shaven-head woman. The neda-nedi cult is said to be still visible around the Navadvipa area, where they are indistinguishable from other shaven vaishnavas wearing tilak and white cloth. The neda-nedi apasampradaya began at the time of Shri Virabhadra Gosvami, the son of Lord Nityananda and Jahnava Mata. It is said that Shri Viracandra converted over a thousand nedas and an equal number of nedis to vaishnavism from tantric Buddhism. Under his direction, these neda-nedis took to the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Most of them got properly married, thus ending the illicit connections that had been going on between them in the name of tantric meditation. But after some time, a number of them again revived their old practices while passing themselves off as vaishnavas. Nowadays, the neda-nedi is taken to be a type of baul.

From Dr. Ramkantha Cakravarti, we get a historical account of a Buddhist monk of Orissa who became a vaishnava in Puri during the time of Shrila Sanatana Gosvami's stay there. He was initiated and received the name Acutyananda das. But after mixing with the vaishnavas for some time, he became dissatisfied by their adherence to varnashrama-dharma. Buddhists are naturally antagonistic to varnashrama, so when Acutyananda consulted a Buddhist guru named Mahananda, he was advised to leave the company of the devotees. Acutyananda established his own group, preaching, bolanti prabhu bhagavan buddharupa mo shri chaitanya tanka carana seva kara: "I serve the lotus feet of Lord Buddha in the form of Shri Chaitanya."

Folk Media

Folk Media traditional media based on sound, image and sign language. These exist in the form of traditional music, drama, dance and puppetry, with unique features in every society, race and region. West Bengal has inherited several rich, effective popular and powerful folk media forms, which were developed over the ages and ensure the emotional integrity of the nation. The development of electronic media transformed the globe into a village but could not overshadow the folk media of different ethnic groups and regions. Folk media continue to play an important role in West Bengal society and the new electronic media are used to popularise some of the folk arts. Ingredients of folk media are given special projection in the mass media and as such folk media are being used in development communication (to bring about attitudinal and behavioral changes of the people) and advertising. Messages on issues like agricultural development, primary health care and nutrition, ENVIRONMENT, education, women and child rights are projected through the folk media. People in West Bengal, especially the great majority in the rural areas enjoy performances of the folk artists as a relief from the myriad of life. Many of them simply do not have access to modern forms of entertainment.
Music is the most popular folk form in West Bengal and the various types of folk music include mystic songs (baul, marfati, murshidi), devotional songs (hamd, nat, shyama sangeet, kirtan), ballad (palagan, puthipath), community songs (jari, sari, bhaoaiya) and snake-charmers song. Folk songs on hopes, joys, sorrows, love, and separation composed by ordinary people are still popular. The traditional melodies and lyrics of these songs were enriched by kabials (lyricist and composer of folk songs), gayens (singers), dohars (co-singers) and musicians. Kabigan, a sort of musical debate on a particular topic between two kabials is very popular all over West Bengal. Gambhira is another form of this type of song, performed jointly by a typical nana (grandfather) and his nati (grandson). This song is accompanied by dance and is usually performed in the Malda District. Ganasangeet (peoples' songs) is the latest form developed by the cultural activists working for the welfare of the oppressed people. This type of song carries messages on the rights of the oppressed people and a strong sense of patriotism. Ganasangeet had inspired the whole nation during the WAR OF LIBERATION in 1971. Instrumental music has its own glory in folk songs. No one can think of folk music without indigenous instruments like ektara, dotara, sarinda, flute and drum.
Folk media are very effective in communicating messages on important national issues, largely because it needs a small troupe, the costs in instruments, transport and manpower are moderate or low, and the outreach is wide, particularly through performances in hats (market places in rural areas) and bazaars. Patriotic forces during the anti-British movement used to organise such groups to motivate the people in favour of SWADESHI MOVEMENT. Simultaneously, during the Second World War the British Indian government constituted a song publicity unit to mobilise public opinion in their favour. India has created an organisation named the Sangeet-Natak Academy (the Academy of music and drama), the main responsibility of which is to perform motivational programmes throughout the country.
The most popular form of folk drama in West Bengal is JATRA, an opera type performance in an open stage. The jatra is performed before rural people of all ages and both genders during autumn and winter nights. Jatra, being a product of mass culture and having undergone a process of evolution, represents different trends of the society. In the past, it was performed by the villagers themselves. They used to build and decorate the stage collectively with great enthusiasm and spend their own money for costumes and props. The organisation of a drama in any village was a great event, especially after the harvesting season. Later, jatradals began to be formed commercially to put on professional performances. People like jatra because of its communicability and the relationship between the performers and the audience. Simplicity and lively and informal presentation are the key features that have made jatra so popular. Nowadays, modern songs and dances presented as fillers between the acts are an added attraction.
One of the most ancient forms of entertainment prevalent in West Bengal is the solo performance by a bahurupi, a person well versed in the art of costuming, mimicry and imitation. In the past, he stayed in one place for days together to perform before wealthy patrons, whose courtyards were also open for the ordinary village people, including women who flocked to the performance. At present, however, the traditional bahurupis do not exist but people in the get up of bahurupi are seen in the rural market places performing mainly to promote sales of a particular company's products.
Puppetry is perhaps the most outstanding traditional folk medium that still exists in its original form in West Bengal. One of the puppetry centres in the country is North and South 24 Paraganas, from where many troupes of traditional puppeteers travel throughout West Bengal to perform with their own songs and dances. The puppet shows are used for educational and promotional purposes and are very effective in development communication.
Painting on clothes and POTTERY products is a fast diminishing form of folk media in West Bengal. In the old days, indigenous artists portrayed characters or reflected events of Hindu mythology as well as from folk tales of Muslim origin in their paintings on cloths or pottery. Quacks, village doctors and medicine sellers often use the traditional cloth painting to promote indigenous medicines in the rural markets. Quilts embroidered with the motifs of flowers, leaves and birds are still popular.
Fairs play an important role in the life of West Bengal people. There are some set occasions and days, when fairs are spontaneously held in different places, both rural and urban. People from all walks of life gather there to enjoy the fanfare and buy things of everyday necessity and toys for the children or HANDICRAFTS and fancy products. Occasional or regular fairs as well as hats and bazaars are the common places where folk media are seen in action. The rally is another ancient means of transmitting public information. In the early days, drummers from the court were assigned to announce the venue and the schedule of a rally. Gatherings for group prayers like mass congregations and indoor meetings of particular groups, unions or faiths are also effective forums for building up public opinion. Although new forms of print and electronic media are gradually replacing the traditional or folk media, oral communication is still very effective in West Bengal.

Sahajiya a religious cult of Bengal

Sahajiya a religious cult. Its followers believe in the sahaja or simple way to feel the sahaja or innate reality that is present in every animate or inanimate object. According to Sahajiya philosophy, along with an external form, every object also has an internal form. This internal form is the eternal, otherwise known as sahaja. To feel the sahaja is to feel the internal eternity in one's self. The whole range of animate and inanimate objects can be felt by experiencing this internal form. The followers of this cult think that a simple, direct way is the best means to experience this feeling.
What goes in favour of human nature is the sahaja (simple) and what goes counter to it is vakra (crooked). The attainment of the self through that which is in accordance with human nature is the objective of Sahajiya philosophy. The Sahajiya believe that the object of worship is knowledge, and this knowledge resides within the self, not outside it. They believe that this knowledge cannot be acquired through study and books, but only apprehended through the advice of preceptors and the indoctrination of sahajasadhana.
The Sahajiya emphasise the importance of the body. They believe that the body embodies the universe and attainment of the self can only be made through bodily love. Literature based on Sahajiya philosophy is classified as Sahajiya literature.
Buddhist Sahajiya Bengal faced internal disturbances after the death of King Shashanka in 635 AD approximately. During the Pala dynasty, around the eighth century, Buddhist Sahajiya emerged as a religious doctrine. To understand the nature of living beings and the phenomenal world through the realisation of the eternal nature of the inner-self constitutes the inherent truth of the religious doctrine of the Buddhist Sahajiya. However, this doctrine also teaches one to renounce worldly ties. Initiates to the Sahajiya doctrine were known as Siddhacharya. Famous Siddhacharya include Luipa, Bhusukupa, KAHNAPA, Sarahpa, Shantipa, and Shavarpa, who composed the Buddhist songs and doha (distiches) of the CHARYAPADA. Most of these composers were inhabitants of Bengal, Mithila, Orissa and Kamrup and hence the life style of eastern India predominated in their religious practice. Bhusukupa and Kahnapa were among the Churashisiddha or Dharmaguru (religious teacher) included in the Nathdharma or Tantric Buddhism. They were followers of Tantric Buddhism or Sahajiya Buddhism but they concealed their own creed and caste and adopted nicknames.
The Charyapada describes the Sahajiya philosophy through various similes and metaphors, in what is known as SANDHYA BHASA. MAHAYANA as a religious doctrine of Buddhism was later subdivided into VAJRAYANA, Kalachakrayana, Mantrayana, etc. While these different sects differ in matters of religious practices, they agree on the concept of Nirvana. The objective of the religious practice of Sahajiya is to attain Nirvana through transcending age, disease, death, and reincarnation. Those who are committed to or initiated in the religious doctrine of Sahajiya believe that they can reach their desired goal through a number of tantric rituals and practices. The Buddhist songs and doha of the Charyapada have been composed on the basis of these practices.
The poets of the Charyapada emphasised the purification of the soul. According to the Siddhacharya the explanation of the doctrine is this: 'In order to purify one's soul it is necessary to reduce one's desire for material things and to concentrate on shunyatavodha or the sense of the void'. The salvation of the soul is attained through the divine grace resulting in contentment and absolute happiness attained through Nirvana. This absolute happiness is the objective of life in the world.
The Buddhist emphasised Buddhist philosophy through the use of such terminology as shunya, trisharana, vodhi, jinaratna, dashavala, nirvana, etc. and associated these words with different doctrines. That is why the influence of tantrashastra or the theory of tantra is felt in the Buddhist songs. Moreover, guruvada, the belief in the importance of the guru, is also greatly emphasised. The Sahajiyas believe that Sahajiya meditation can not be acquired through books or scholarship. It can be learned only through the instructions of the guru or religious teacher. Hence the meditation to attain the Supreme or Absolute needs to be conducted in an easy way. The Sahajiya also believe that the key to such meditation lies in the innermost soul. It is useless to look for the Absolute outside the soul. He exists within us: 'Arupa Buddha rupe'. As the poet Kaknapa says: 'Guru vova shisya kala' [The disciple even if he is deaf can understand whatever the guru intends through hints and suggestions.] More precisely, the guru by virtue of his own power directs the disciple in the right way.
However, the meditation of the Sahajiyas is not easy. As the Sahajiyas say, 'Make the frog dance in the mouth of snake'. In other words they suggest that great restraint must be practised by the followers of this cult, who like the snake must resist devouring the frog though it is dancing in the snake's mouth. [Azharul Islam]
Vaisnava sahajiya The fourteenth-century poet BARU CHANDIDAS is believed to be the deviser and preacher of this creed, which he divined after coming in contact with a washerwoman named Rami. Later in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the creed, based on the Buddhist Sahajiya doctrine, started gaining ground. The followers of this doctrine believe themselves to be sahaja rasika (versed in sahaja) or travellers of the sahaja patha (simple path). The phrase sahaja patha here means love, which is human nature. The ultimate goal of a human being is to attain the self through love; and the Vaisnava sahajiya consider the body to be the best means for this. The ideals of the Vaisnava sahajiya are beauty, love and enjoyment.
The philosophical doctrines and practices of the Vaisnava sahajiyas are different from those of the Gaudian Vaisnavas. The Gaudian Vaisnavas believe that all philosophy lies in the human body and they take the philosophy of love allegorically, not literally unlike the Sahajiya.
The Vaisnava sajahiya instituted a diversified form of philosophy of love by mixing VAISNAVISM and the doctrines of RADHA and KRISHNA in the name of Nimai and Nitaichand. Their philosophy incorporated the spiritual and the physical. According to Sahajiya philosophy, each man and woman has an inner and outer form. Thus a man has the outer form of a man, but his inner self is Krishna. Similarly, a woman has the outer form of a woman but her inner self is Radha. When the external forms unite physically, the inner selves attain the highest enjoyment. This is mahabhava or the enjoyment of sahaja. Deification of man is the basic principle of the Sahajiya doctrine.
The Gaudian Vaisnavas look down on the Vaisnava sahajiyas because to the latter the philosophy of love or the worship of body is of great importance. This has distanced one sect from the other and has lowered the social dignity of the Sahajiyas. Even Chandidas himself was excommunicated from the Brahmin society. Despite this fact, the philosophy gained ground and became widespread. This is now recognised as an alternative means of worshipping God.
A large part of medieval BANGLA LITERATURE is based on the Sahajiya creed. Among the people who wrote on this philosophy, Baru Chandidas is considered the best. His SRIKRISHNAKIRTAN depicts the basic principles of Sahajiya in a lucid manner. Many poets including Chandidas, who believed in the Sahajiya doctrine, composed verses on practices of the attainment of the self in an enigmatic language, known as ragatmika pada (verses that consider pure love to be the attainment).
Vaisnava sahajiya literature is of two kinds: one, based on padavali (lyrics), the other, based on nivandha (composition). Poets like VIDYAPATI and RUPA GOSWAMI are proponents of the padavali literature while Baru Chandidas and KRISHNADASA KAVIRAJA are proponents of nibandha literature. The prefatory parts of many pieces by less famous figures impute the works to famous names such as Vidyapati, Chandidas, Narahari Sarkar, Raghunath Das, Krsnadas Kaviraja, Narottam Das, Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami, Vrindavan Das, Lochandas, and Chaitanyadas. Some noted books of Sahajiya literature are Vivartavilasa (Akinchan Das), Anandabhairava, Amrtarasavali, Agamagrantha, Premavilasa (Yugalkishore Das), Radha-Rasa-Karika, Deha-Kadcha (Narottam Das), Sahaja-Upasana-Tattva (Taruni Raman), Siddhanta-Chandrodaya, Rativilasa-Paddhati, Ragamayikana, and Ratnasara. [Sambaru Chandra Mohanta]

Subho Bangla Naboborsho(Happy Bangla New Year)

Dear Patrons,
Today is Bangla's New Year.
We are stating Pranam and Bhalobasha to you.
Biswendu for Lokfolk Team

A Letter From Our Friend

Dear Biswendu Nanda,

Just i have looked "Folk Transport of Bengal" posted on 12th April 2010.

The portion you have written on 'BOAT' is not true in many sence
1. You cannot say "boat is generally of three categories" because the
categories differ and you have not mentioned on which basis. it has to
be on the basis of technology or on the basis of its outer look or on
the basis of its purpose.

anyhow Bazra to me refers to a class of boats used by affluent people
and at present the nomenclature used by ignorant people. the boat has
lost its existence and doesn't have any ingenuity on its technological
skill.

Kosha , a flat bottomed boat widely used in mainly North bengal is not
at all a warboat. can you clarify?

and lastly all other small boats are "DINGA" is absolutely rubbish. in
bengal we have pauka, patia, salti, chhot, bachhari and so many other.
these are all small boats.
if you would like to know about boats please can see some photos and
their names in my blog.

with regards,

Swarup

Folk Transport of Bengal

Folk Transport vehicles and vessels used on land and water by communities of people. Since ancient times elephants, horses, donkeys and buffaloes have been used in Bengal as land transport.
In ancient and medieval times elephants were used to transport men and materials on battlefields. Sometimes kings and emperors, as well as courtiers and noblemen, went for joy rides and tiger hunts on elephant-back.
People living in the jungle often used the elephant for their work, particularly for transporting logs. Moreover, during various festivals and ceremonies, the elephant played an important role. Nineteenth-century sketches of MUHARRAM show elephants leading the procession.
Bulls and buffaloes have long been used for pulling carts. Once farmers and herdsmen in Cooch Bihar in West Bengal used to ride on water buffaloes. Maishal places herdsmen continue to do so. Bullock carts, pulled by buffaloes and bullocks, are still the chief means of transport for goods in rural areas.
The horse was another common form of transport in the past used for carrying people and goods. Horse-drawn carriages were introduced in this country long ago and are still widely used in the northern parts of Bengal, especially in the region of Maldah and Murshidabad. The horse-drawn carriage was one of the chief modes of transport of the commons.
Dulis and palkis or PALANQUINs were once widely used in rural areas. A duli, made of bamboo and rope, was carried by two bearers and usually accommodated a single passenger. A palki was bigger in size and made of wood. There were doors on both sides.
A long cylindrical pole was attached to it lengthways through the middle. A palki is carried by two or four men, known as beharas, who held the pole at both ends. In the past palkis were widely used by aristocratic families and during weddings in rural areas. Special songs known as 'Palki Songs' were also sung on these occasions. Due to the introduction of mechanised vehicles and the development of roads in rural areas, the use of dulis and palkis is now almost extinct.
The thelagadi, the pushcart, pulled by one man in front and pushed by another at the back, is still used in rural areas. Till the eighties, the pushcart wheel was wooden, but now most pushcarts have rubber tires.
BOATs have long been used in Bengal as the principal means of transport for water. The boat is still the chief form of transport for much of Bengal during the rainy season. Boats are used for travelling from one place to another, for carrying goods and for pleasure trips. Different types of boats are used for different purposes.
Boats are generally divided into three categories: bajra, kosa and dinga. A bajra is a large, slow-moving boat. It was a luxury boat, and, in the past, was usually used only by the rich. The longer, faster boats are known as kosa. In the past kosa, known as ranatari (war boats), were used for naval battles. All other small boats are called dinga.
During the rainy season, impoverished villagers also used rafts made of banana plants. MANASAMANGAL, for example, refers to the dead body of Laksindar being set adrift on a raft. In some regions hollowed-out trunks of palmyra trees are also used as a means of water transport.
Chariots were used in ancient India, but it is not known whether they were used in Bengal. However, chariots are still used on the occasion of RATHAYATRA, during the worship of the god JAGANNATH.
RICKSHAWs, once a symbol of modern technology, are today a form of folk transport. Increasingly being accused of causing traffic jams in the cities, they are a colourful, environment-friendly mode of travel. Rickshaw-vans are a modernised version of the pushcart, and have become very popular in cities and small towns. Mainly used to carry goods, they are often used to transport people as well and can carry 6-8 persons.

Oladevi(Olabibi)

Oladevi or Olabibi is the goddess of cholera and the wife of the Asura Maya and is worshipped by people in the region of Bengal (consisting of the country Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). The Goddess is also known as Olaichandi, Olabibi and Bibima. Oladevi is an important part of folk tradition in Bengal, and is honoured by communities of different religions and cultures.
Oladevi is believed to be the wife of Mayasura, the legendary king and architect of Asuras, Danavas , Rakshasas and Daityas in Hindu mythology.Devotees consider her to be the guardian deity against the cholera disease, protecting those who worship her against the disease, which plagued communities across Bengal. Indeed, the Bengali term for cholera is ola-otha or ola-utha, a reference to the name Ola (one meaning of the word otha in Bengali is appearance).
To Hindus, Oladevi resembles the Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati, portrayed as a lady with deep yellow skin wearing a blue sari and adorned with ornaments. She is portrayed with extended arms and seated with a child in her lap. The Muslims of Bengal call her Olabibi or Bibima from Olabibi Gan (Song of Olabibi), which recounts the story of the child of a virgin Muslim princess that disappeared mystically and reappeared as the Goddess, curing the sons of the minister of the kingdom and the badshah, the father of her mother. She is portrayed wearing a cap, scarf and ornaments. On her feet she wore nagra shoes and sometimes also socks. In one hand she held a magical staff that destroyed the ailments of her devotees.
Oladevi was worshipped alone or in association with six other deities: Jholabibi, Ajgaibibi, Chandbibi, Bahadabibi, Jhetunebibi and Asanbibi. It is believed by some people that these seven deities are transmogrifications of Vedic deities, namely Brahmi, Maheshvari, Vaisnavi, Varahi, Indrani and others. Their collective worship is evidenced in prehistoric times by a terracotta relic found at Mohenjodaro, a major city of the Indus Valley Civilisation located in Sindh shows the image of seven women standing together.
Oladevi's puja would be performed under a tree among the huts. Among Hindus, her worship is conducted on Saturdays or Tuesdays with offerings of vegetarian food. Any one from any community, including women, could conduct this worship.
There were three forms of worship for Oladevi: Regular puja, vrata puja, and special pujas during cholera epidemics. Unlike the regular puja which was held on Saturdays and Tuesdays, a vrata puja could be held on any day, without much ceremony. In the event of a cholera epidemic, the villagers would collectively worship her under the leadership of the village head.
Common offerings to the deity include sweets, betel leaves and areca nuts, unboiled rice and cane sugar. Many Hindu priests invoke her by calling, Eso Ma Oladevi, Behul Radhir jhi (Come, Mother Oladevi, daughter of Behul Radhi).
Oladevi is an important figure in the folk traditions of Bengal and is considered by experts as a superimposition of the Hindu concept of the Mother Divine with the stern monotheistic Islamic deity, Allah. The worship of Oladevi as the Goddess of Cholera is believed to have emerged in the 19th century CE with the spreading of the disease in the Indian subcontinent. The importance of Oladevi extends across communal lines and caste barriers. However, the significance of her worship has diminished in modern times as outbreaks of cholera have been reduced considerably by advancements in medicine and sanitation.

Charak Puja

Charak Puja is a very enchanting folk festival of the Southern Belt of West Bengal. It is also known as "Nil Puja". The believers of the Hindu religion celebrate this on the last day of Chaitra (Chaitra Songkranti, Chaitra is the last month of Bengali Calender).
People believe that the festival will carry prosperity by eliminating the sorrow and sufferings of the previous year. The festival is actually a festival to satisfy "Lord Shiva", the great "Debadideb" of Hindu Religion. Though the festival takes place on the mid night of Chaitra Songkranti, the preparation phase usually starts before one month of the day.
The arrangement team of the festival go from village to village to procure the necessary components like paddy, oil, sugar, salt, honey, money and other items with the arranged cosmetics such as Shiva, Parvati and Narod. The cosmetic Shiva is locally called "Nil Pagol" or "Jal Katha". On midnight of the Songkranti, the worshippers are gathered together to worship the God and after Puja the "Prosad" is distributed.
In one place, it is also known as "Hajrha Puja". The woman doesn't take the meal before Puja on this day. Sometimes in this festival a human "Charak" is made ready to satisfy the Lord Shiva. The "Charak" is tied with a hook (Borshi) on his back and then he is moved around a bar with a long rope. Though it is risky, they arrange it.
Kolkata is one of the place where still some years back Charak Puja was one of the major events for the lower middle class people. One of the prominent crossings of South Kolkata, Hajra was named because a popular festival of Charak was celebrated there.
In the northern part of the city the erstwhile fisher folks use to carry procession during these days called Jele Parar Song(Caricature of the Fishmen’s Area).

Gazir Pat

Gazir Pat a form of scroll painting; an important genre of folk art, practised by patuyas (painters) in rural areas and depicting various incidents in the life of Gazi Pir. Until the recent past, the narration of the story of Gazi Pir with the help of a Gazir pat was a popular form of entertainment in rural areas. Those who took part in the performance were members of the bedey(snake charmers) community and Muslim by faith. Besides Gazir pat, there were other scrolls depicting well-known stories such as Manasa Pat (based on the goddess manasa), Ramayana Pat (based on ramachandra), Krishna Pat (based on Lord krishna) etc. The asutosh museum of indian art (Kolkata, India), Gurusaday Dutt Museum (Kolkata, India).

A performance of gazir gan (songs about Gazi Pir) usually takes place in the courtyard of rural homesteads. The performer gradually unrolls the scroll, pointing to different illustrations with a thin bamboo staff as he narrates the incidents. A few percussionists stand beside the lead performer and accompany him on the judi, dhol and chati. The performance text is orally composed in rhymed metrical verse. Instead of a unified narrative, the text is essentially a mixture of three subjects: (i) description of the efficacy of the cult of Gazi Pir, (ii) comic moralising comments on social malpractices, and (iii) a list of the punishments that Yama, the god of the underworld, will mete out to people who lead immoral lives.

A Gazir pat is usually 4'8" long and 1'10" wide and made of thick cotton fabric. The entire scroll is divided into 25 panels. Of these, the central panel is about 12" high and 20.25" wide. There are four rows of panels above and three rows below the central panel. The bottom row contains three panels, each of which is 5.25" high and 6.25" wide.

Gazir Pat

The central panel depicts Gazi Pir seated on a tiger, flanked by Manik Pir and Kalu. The central panel of the second row shows Pir Gazi's son, Fakir, playing a nakara. The central panel of the third row shows Gazi's sister, Laksmi, with her carrier owl. The right panel of the second row shows the goddess Ganga riding a crocodile. In the bottom row, Yamadut and Kaladut, the messengers of Yama, are shown in the left and right panels. The central panel shows Yama's mother punishing the transgressor by cooking his head in a pot. As Gazi Pir is believed to have the power to control animals, a Gazir pat also depicts a number of tigers.

Red and blue are the two pigments mainly used. There are slight variations of colour, with crimson and pink from red, and grey and sky-blue from blue. Every figure is flat and two-dimensional. In order to bring in variety, various abstract designs (such as diagonal, vertical and horizontal lines, and small circles) are often used. The figures lack grace and softness. Some of the forms (such as trees, the Gazi's mace, the tasbih, (the Muslim rosary), birds, deer, hookahs etc, are extremely stylised. The figures of Gazi, Kalu, Manik Pir, Yama's messengers, etc appear rigid and lifeless. There is no attempt at realism.

The traditional method of painting Gazir pat begins with the preparation of size from tamarind seeds and wood-apple. The tamarind seeds are first roasted and left to soak overnight in water. In the morning the seeds are peeled, and the white kernels are ground and boiled with water into a paste. The paste is then sieved through a gamchha (indigenous towel). The tamarind size thus obtained is then mixed with fine brick powder. In order to prepare wood-apple size, a few green wood-apples are cut up and left to soak overnight in water. The resultant liquid is strained in the morning, and the size is ready to use.

A Gazir pat is generally painted on coarse cotton cloth. The piece on which the painting is to be executed is spread on a mat in the sun. A single coat of the mixture of tamarind size and brick powder is then applied on the side to be painted, either by hand or with a brush made of jute fibre. After it has dried, two coats of size are applied on the other side of the cloth, which is then left to dry. On the side to be painted, another coat of a mixture of tamarind size and chalk powder is applied. When the cloth is dry, it is divided into panels with the help of a mixture prepared with wood-apple size and chalk powder. When the prepared cloth is dry, the patuya starts painting the figures.

The pigments were originally obtained from various natural sources: black was obtained by holding an earthen plate over a burning torch, white from conch shells, red from sindur (vermilion powder), yellow from turmeric, dull yellow from gopimati (a type of yellowish clay), blue from indigo. The patuya would make the brush himself with sheep or goat hair. Some of these techniques are still used today. However, the patuya usually buys paints and brushes from the market.

The tradition of Gazir pat can be traced back to the 7th century, if not earlier. The panels on Yama's messengers and his mother appear to be linked to the ancient Yama-pat (performance with scroll painting of Yama). It is also possible that the scroll paintings of Bangladesh are linked to the traditional pictorial art of continental India of the pre-Buddhist and pre-Ajanta epochs, and of Tibet, Nepal, China and Japan of later times.

Kalighat paintings

Kalighat paintings originated in Bengal with the patua artists, a local artistic tradition. The bazaar painters around the famous Kalighat temple adapted this style to produce works for the visiting devotees. The golden age of Kalighat art spans from the mid nineteenth century up until the 1920's.
They are highly prized and sought after because they are seen as the beginning of Indian modern art, because it was the first folk style art that created a new direction from the meticulously finished Indian and Mughal miniature tradition. They were very influential on later artists because of the quick and spontaneous drawing and simple flowing color and line.
During the early part of the 20th century Indian artists were searching for a style of art that they felt truly reflected Indian experience and Kalighat paintings were like a breath of fresh air sweeping away the dusty academia of the European style. The introduction of watercolor paint with the British, who loved to go outdoors and paint landscapes and flora, had shown these artists the potential of this quick acting medium. Watercolor lends itself to the 'sketch' or quick impression.
Parallel to this spontaneity, the subject matter also broadened into other areas. The patua painters who worked in this style would of course paint the deities for the pilgrims but they also painted quick scenes of contemporary life in Bengal ( like the europeanised Babu and his mistress, trying so hard not to be too Indian), proverbs and tales (like the cat with the lobster signifying the fat cat priest), and also current newspaper scandals and stories.
Very often several artists were involved in the finished work, one sketching out the line, another quickly filling in the color, and maybe another one finishing off with detail or silver/gold highlights.
Later artists like Jamini Roy were very influenced by this quick drawn sketch as opposed to the lengthy worked out paintings or the dominant British academic oil painting style. They felt that this was truly an indigenous Indian art. Jamini Roy, in fact, started out as a highly accomplished British trained artist painting portraits and post-impressionist landscapes, until he specifically sought another more Indian style and used the local patua, Santhal and Kalighat art as a starting point.
Original Kalighat paintings are highly prized by collectors and are getting more difficult to find, because they are seen as the beginning of the trajectory of Indian modern art which has gathered such a momentum in the past decade.
Today, there are still Kalighat artists producing this style of work.

©Peter Louis 2005

Traditional Bengali cuisine

The traditional society of Bengal has always been heavily agrarian; hunting, except by some local clans men, was uncommon. However, cattle rearing has been common as reflected in use of milk primarily for sweets and desserts. Also, as one would assume, general food at home is different from that served during functions and festivals and again very different from what might be served a larger gathering (e.g. a marriage feast).

An abundant land provides for an abundant table. The nature and variety of dishes found in Bengali cooking are unique even in India. Fish cookery is one of its better-known features and distinguishes it from the cooking of the landlocked regions. Bengal's countless rivers, ponds and lakes teem with many kinds of freshwater fish that closely resemble catfish, bass, shad or mullet. Bengalis prepare fish in innumerable ways - steamed or braised, or stewed with greens or other vegetables and with sauces that are mustard based or thickened with poppyseeds.

Bengalis also excel in the cooking of vegetables. They prepare a variety of the imaginative dishes using the many types of vegetables that grow here year round. They can make ambrosial dishes out of the oftentimes rejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables. They use fuel-efficient methods, such as steaming fish or vegetables in a small covered bowl nestled at the top of the rice cooker.

The use of spices for both fish and vegetable dishes is quite extensive and includes many combinations not found in other parts of India. Examples are the onion-flavored kalonji seeds,radhuni and five-spice or paanch phoron(a mixture of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, kalonji, and black mustard). The trump card of Bengali cooking probably is the addition of this phoron, a combination of whole spices, fried and added at the start or finish of cooking as a flavouring special to each dish. Bengalis share a love of whole black mustard with South Indians, but the use of freshly ground mustard paste is unique to Bengal as it is used to make fish curry gravy or in the preparation of steamed fish. Mustard paste called Kasundi is an accompanying dipping sauce popular in bengal.

Fish and meat

Fish is the dominant kind of meat, cultivated in ponds and fished with nets in the fresh-water rivers of the Ganges delta. Almost every part of the fish (except fins and innards) is eaten; the head and other parts are usually used to flavor curries. The head is often cooked with dal or with cabbage. Dal is not a traditional eastern grain. Still today, most of the Traditional Bengali widow do not take dal as it is alien(mostly north Indian accompaniment)food.

More than forty types of mostly freshwater fish are common, including carp varieties like rui (rohu), koi (climbing perch), the wriggling catfish family of tangra, magur, shingi and the pink-bellied Indian butter fish, the pabda katla, magur (catfish), chingŗi (prawn or shrimp), as well as shuţki (small dried sea fish). Chingri could be of varieties - kucho (varieties of shrimp), usual (prawns), bagda (tiger prawns), and galda (Scampi).

Shorshe Ilish, a dish of smoked hilsa with mustard seeds, has been an important part of both Bangladeshi and Bengali cuisine. Traditionally till the middle age, Fried Hilsa Oil is used to massage the body to prevent heart attack.

Salt water fish (not sea fish though) hilsa (hilsa ilisha) is very popular among Bengalis, can be called an icon of Bengali cuisine. Ilish machh (hilsa fish), which migrates upstream to breed is a delicacy; the varied salt content at different stages of the journey is of particular interest to the connoisseur, as is the river from which the fish comes - fish from the river Pôdda (Padma or Lower Ganges) in Bangladesh, for example, is traditionally considered the best. To some part of the community, particularly from West Bengal, Gangatic Ilish is considered as the best variety. Fried fish served in all over bengal.

There are numerous ways of cooking fish depending on the texture, size, fat content and the bones. It could be fried, cooked in roasted, a simple spicy tomato based gravy (jhol), or mustard based with green chillies (shorshe batar jhaal), with posto, with seasonal vegetables, steamed, steamed inside of plantain leaves, cooked with doi (curd/yogurt), with sour sauce, with sweet sauce or even the fish made to taste sweet on one side, and savory on the other. Ilish is said be cooked in 108 distinct ways

Chicken is a late entrant into Bengali cuisine relative to mutton. Khashi, the meat of younger goats, is preferred.

Vegetables
The variety of fruits and vegetables that Bengal has to offer is incredible. A host of gourds, roots and tubers, leafy greens, succulent stalks, lemons and limes, green and purple eggplants, red onions, plantain, broad beans, okra, banana tree stems and flowers, green jackfruit and red pumpkins are to be found in the markets or anaj bazaar as popularly called.

Cereals

Bengali people are primarily rice eaters, and the rainfall and soil in Bengal lends itself to rice production as well. Many varieties of rice are produced from the long grain fragrant varieties to small grain thick ones. Rice is semi-prepared in some cases when it is sold as par-boiled, or in some cases as un-polished as well, still retaining the color of the husk. Rice is eaten in various forms as well - puffed, beaten, boiled and fried depending on the meal. The first two are used usually as snacks and the other as the main constituent in a meal. Lightly fermented rice is also used as breakfast in rural and agrarian communities.

Luchi (circular deep fried un-leavened bread) or Parothha (usually triangular, multi-layered, pan fried, un-leavened bread) are also used as the primary food item on the table. It is considered that wheat based food came in from the north and is relatively new in advent. Both Luchi and Parothha could have stuffed versions as well, and the stuffing could vary from dal, peas etc.

These days Pulses (or lentils) form another important ingredient of a meal. These dals vary from mushur đal (red lentils), mug đal (mung beans), kadhaier dal, arhar dal' etc. and are used as an accompaniment to rice.

Cooking medium and spices

Traditionally, the worrd "tel" came from Til(sesame). Though Mastered Oil is one of the best ingredient of cooking, Til Oil was most preferred medium of oil in rural areas. In coastal areas like Medinipur, two decades earlier people used to consume coconut oil. Shorsher tel (mustard oil) is the primary cooking medium in Bengali cuisine although Badam tel (groundnut oil) is also used, because of its high smoke point. Of late, use of sunflower oil, soybean oil and refined vegetable oil, which is a mixture of soybean, kardi, and other edible vegetable oils, is gaining prominence.This later group is popularly known as "sada tel", meaning white oil, bringing out the contrast in color between the lightly-colored groundnut and the somewhat darker mustard oil and the other white oils. However, depending on need ghee (clarified butter) is often used .e.g. for making the dough or for frying bread.

mustard paste, holud (turmeric), posto (poppyseed), aadaa (ginger), dhonia (coriander, seeds and leaves) and narkel (ripe coconut usually desiccated) are other common ingredients. 'The pãch phoron is a general purpose spice mixture comprising of shorshe (mustard seeds), jeere (cumin), kaalo jeere (black cumin, also known as nigel), methi (fenugreek) and mauri (anis). This mixture is more convenient for vegetarian dishes and fish preparations. In addition to the specific flavour and taste obtained by these combinations, behind the recipes there has been a solid knowledge of the medicinal properties known in the traditional system of aayurveda.

Bengal is also the land of aam (mangoes), which are used extensively — ripe, unripe, in chutneys and pickles. Dried mangoes (unripe, known as aamchur and ripe, in form of aamsatta) are much appreciated. The sweet drink made out of roasted green mangoes is a delicious antidote against sunstroke.

A touch of gôrom môshla or hot spices (elach cardamom, darchini cinnamon, lôvongo clove, tej pata bay leaves, and peppercorn) is often used to enliven food through taste and aroma. Gôrom môshla is used either roughly broken or ground to different levels of fineness, especially suitable for meat preparations.
[edit] Instruments and utensils

Another characteristic of Bengali food is the use of a unique cutting instrument, the bothi. (This instrument is also used in Maharashtra, where it is known as vili and in Andhra Pradesh, known as kathi peeta (kathi = knife and peeta = platform) ). It is a long curved blade on a platform held down by foot; both hands are used to hold whatever is being cut and move it against the blade. The method gives excellent control over the cutting process, and can be used to cut anything from tiny shrimp to large pumpkins. Knives are rare in a traditional Bengali kitchen.

A korai (wok) is a universal cooking vessel for most Bengali food, for making sauces, frying/stir-frying etc. Dekchi (a flat bottomed pan) is used generally for larger amounts of cooking or for making rice. The dekchi comes with a thin flat lid which is used also to strain out the starch while finishing up cooking rice. The other prominent cooking utensil is a haandi, which is a round bottomed pot like vessel. All the three mentioned vessels come in various sizes and in various metals and alloys.

Silverware, as expected, is not part of traditional Bengali cookery. A flat metal spatula, khonti is used often, along with haatha (scoop with a long handle), jhaanjri (round shaped sieve like spatula to deep fry food), the sharashi (pincers to remove vessels from the fire), the ghuntni (wooden hand blender) for puréeing dal and the old wooden chaki belon (round pastry board and rolling pin), sil nora (grinding stone) is also used.

Preparation and cutting

Bengali cuisine is rather particular in the way vegetables and meat (or fish) are prepared before cooking. Some vegetables are used unpeeled, in some preparations fish is used un-skinned in contrast as well. However, in most dishes vegetable are peeled, and fish scaled and skinned.

In many cases the main ingredients are lightly marinated with salt and turmeric (also an anti-bacterial and anti-septic). Vegetables are to be cut in different ways for different preparations. Dicing, Julienne, strips, scoops, slices, shreds are common and one type of cut vegetables can not replace another style of cutting for a particular preparation. Any aberration is frowned upon.