SOIL TO SOUL – A complete photo documentary on the fate of the idol of Goddess mother “Durga”.

Durga Puja is one of the biggest festivals of West Bengal and is celebrated with unparalleled enthusiasm in Kolkata. The festival symbolizes the homecoming of Goddess Durga for five days to her matrimonial home from Mount Kailash. It is a celebration of good over evil as the goddess vanquishes the demon Mahishasura.

In this photo documentary, photographer Dipanjan Chakraborty has shown the fate of the idol of the Goddess mother Durga, right from her making to her immersion in the holy river Ganges.

Durga Puja is not only the biggest festival of the Bengalis but also it is the passion and emotion for the people of Bengal. From the making of the idol of Goddess Durga at Kumartuli to the immersion of the idol in the Ganges – it has a story in it’s own.

Situated on the banks of river Hooghly, Kumartuli or Coomartolly is where the present day artistry of Idol-making perseveres. Although Kumartuli remains busy shaping the clay idols throughout the year but the month of September keeps swirling with huge idols for the coming October’s Durgotsav. The onlookers are left awestruck at how adeptly the artists shape the figures in such a restricted space available to them. Each and every long stretch of shaded space is packed with the clay figurines of Devi Durga on her lion with Mahisasura at her feet and her children (Lakshmi, Saraswati, Karthik and Ganesh). The “Mrit Shilpi”s sculpting the figures out from a mere bunch of straws and painting it to give a lively look is a month long process and indeed a sight to see and is a delight to the photographers’ lens. Then these idols are distributed in different pandals of Kolkata and outside of Kolkata & India as well and Goddess Durga is worshipped there for 5 days. The work of shaping just clay to goddess idol is done by clay artists of Kumortuli who are locally known as Poto with skilful hands. On the very last day of Durga Puja comes Vijaya Dashami when maximum idols are immersed at river Ganga in various ghats. This is a process where an idol is made by soil , then it turns to great soul Goddess Durga and at the very end again it goes to soil after immersion.