Changing Aesthetics: Tradition to Contemporarization of Festivals
Tanima Bhattacharya
The stride of Modernism and Postmodernism has been articulated in the notional space of India as a borrowed concept from the West. Modernism emerged to establish a quest for identity, which was obvious in the socio-political and economic situation of the West. However, in India, indigenous ethnicity never formed the ground to be absorbed in the ideas of the west, instead formed the ground to debate on the values of postmodernism in India. This debate too only retraces and echoes similar debates in Europe. The colonial overweening has made our social enterprise fragile to succumb either to an unmindful imitation and recapitulation of the West or an equally unthinking, fanatic chauvinism, fundamentalism, and thus India becomes the breeding ground of antipodal, burlesqued ideas.
Considering the paradox, Indian art and culture started to imitate, absorb, and reflect a new vocabulary altogether. Like other parameters, conceptualization and its reflection through installations seeped into Indian art panorama and opened up a new spectrum of visual language. However, the basic difference in conceptualization and execution was still evident. The difference lies in the application of self-conscious aesthetic accumulation in the case of West, while in the Indian art scenario, initially, it remained obscured within the periphery of fine art. Ironically in India, initially, it failed to connect to its long-established root in the traditions expressed through rites and rituals in emotionally sensitive spaces, performed as the way of life. A contemporary reinterpretation of the same shifts from the utilitarian perspective to aesthetical attention and form a unique identity in India as a sanctum where tradition, spirituality, art-aesthetics, and innovation have always been seamlessly weaved through the way of life.
India, as a ground of absorption and assimilation, celebrates art, ideas, ideology, and aesthetics as a part of life manifested through the festivals, espoused from the spectrum of spiritual-traditional practices. For example, during festivals, the idols or the object of veneration is placed in a niche like temporary sections, and the whole setup includes the backdrop, arrangement of the offerings, installations, which are aesthetically refined but not always a part of the ritualistic dimension. As, in the festivals of Jhulan, Charak, the alters prepared to offer homage to God are the living installation that became part and parcel of our tradition; hence, inseparable from our mind and thought. Likewise, during the present era of commodification and globalization, the identity of these festivals has altered. Thus, the quest for new identity has placed a thrust towards the reorientation of personal-ritualistic and public-interactive space stressing on the metamorphosis of corporeal experience. The corporeal experience represents itself as an exhibition of integrated space, forms, rituals, and installations, and the dialogical shift has come to abridge the gap between art and traditional practice.
During the twentieth century, religious rituals and traditional art practice, formerly, which are esoteric devoid of mass proliferation, have transformed into a subject of popular culture. In the West, installations from the postmodern attitude enhance commodification and consumerism, while in the East, it has created the pavement for expression and artistic experimentation through creative impulses. At the end of twentieth-century India, many artists challenged traditional ideas about painting and sculpture and sought to explore the space where the artwork being exhibited as an integral component of the space itself, embracing the theatricality of space emerged from the interaction between the installation and the and the viewers. These huge living installations often include sculpture, light, sound, video, or performance, as well as architectural, environmental, or assemblage constructions—all of which invite unique artistic, spatial, and time-based alterations. Some installations also address notions of place, location, and displacement in the sphere of festivities and encourage viewers to rethink their relationships and experiences with artistic space, form, and objects.
Durgapuja: History in Brief
Maturation of the concept of Pandal from a niche like covering to a grand thematic development unfolded a saga of more the 400 years, which concerns the transformation in the social, cultural, and economic conditions and how it alters the meaning and position of an age-old practice. The first grand worship of Goddess Durga in recorded history is said to have been celebrated in the late 1500s. Folklores say the landlords of Dinajpur and Malda initiated the first Durga Puja in Bengal. Sometimes researchers differ Raja Kangshanarayan of Taherpur, and Bhabananda Mazumdar of Nadiya organized the first Sharadiya or Autumn DurgaPuja in Bengal in 1606c. However, at that time, Durgapuja was exclusively celebrated by affluent Bengali Hindu families, who were either wealthy landowners or worked for the British imperial.
During the eighteenth century, a new dimension was added to the festivals when distinguished British officials started to get invited to celebrate the puja with Hindu families, a socio-political gesture to secure fame and fortune indeed. The guests took part in the festivities, but they were not allowed to enter the sacred sanctum of the Goddess. Gradually, Durgapuja spread from the households of the rural raja or wealthy landlords to the urban spaces of Kolkata, but nonetheless, it was restricted to elite households.
Later the concept of Barowaripuja or public worship of the Goddess Durga began in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Twelve Brahmin men established a committee to organize their own Durgapuja in Guptipara village in the Nadia district of West Bengal. By the first decade of the twentieth century, the Barowaripuja become 'Sarbojonin,' with a more inclusive approach, meant 'for everyone,' establishing unanimous access to the Goddess. The economic and traditional expansion pushes the boundaries of cultural context; therefore, the age-old practice of rites and rituals has altered. Elaborated esoteric rituals are gradually marginalized, and the culture grew to take a new shape and form. In contemporary times, not the idol, rather the theme, platform, ambiance related to it emerged as the point of interest.
Evolution of Tradition with Changing Socio-economic Milieu
The stride of postmodernism strikes at the shore of India in the 1990s, and as a result emergence of installation art in India can be traced back to the nineties. The insurgence of globalization and changing market economy tends to guide not only the intellect and artistic aspirations; rather, it affects our mundane life and cultures too. In the art scenario of Kolkata, this thrust has taken a prominent shape in the most significant event of Bengal, i.e., the festival of Durgapuja.
Commercialization of the religious aspects developed mutually in the case of evolution of the concept, process, and execution of Durgapuja. Its transformational journey from the courtyard of the nawabs, baboos, and zamindars to the 'Barowari' or committee, from the sanctified thakurdalan to the huge street-side pandals created a new saga of changing market taste and economy. The new genre of visual representation related to the integrated artistic ideas gradually gains popularity and thus aesthetically transformed the simple esoteric rituals into a carnival. The arcane codified norms are restructured considering the mass culture. Academically trained artists initiated to revamp both the traditional idol and pandals. The pandals started to embody the throbbing aspects of the popular culture and generate creative-economic opportunities for artist communities. The intervention of the artist community altered the form of Goddess Durga from Khas Bangla type to Arter Thakur, and the pandals become the assay of the thematic delegation along with the altered orientation of mass consumerism than of the mystic one.
The altering attitude that blurs the boundary between art and craft
Now the attention is leaning towards the personal attitude of artists and organizers as well as experimenting with themes; organizers are exploring newer techniques and mediums in creating the idols and Pandals. The theme and the choice of materials start to depend solely on the artist. With the escalating trends of artistic endeavors, the identity of Durga puja gradually metamorphosed and has taken a secular shape beyond the religious tradition and beliefs. Former pandals with bamboo structures, covered with meters of coloring cloths, decorated with fabricated thermocol designs, and even the idols made in Kumartuli fall out of fashion. Academically trained artists and artisans from Kumartui and all over India have started to work collaboratively, specifically idols and pandal makers who have never been considered as artists. However, in the contemporary scenario, the fusion of the artistic experiments with the concept, form, material, the process of creating a heterotopic space, and most importantly, the number of spectators interacting with the heterotopic space has wholly altered the situation. The intervention of the professionally trained artists raises the quest for identity, and the vague border between art and craftsmanships faded away.
Not only with art and craft, but the current attitude has also shattered the distinction between rituals and design aesthetics. As for example, Alpona and Rangoli are essential parts of rituals, intimate to every woman of Hindu households, but it has transformed and become a popular representation of street art while painted on the streets of Kolkata during Puja. Here, the ritualistic need and the need for refined aesthetics complemented each other. Likewise, traditional clay idols transformed into theme-based idols exploring metal casting, fiver casting, and different kinds of materials; Vedic mantras got synthesized with and modern music; Theme oriented stage or platform has taken up the place of traditional 'mandapa'; elements essential for rites and rituals has become the motifs for decorations of the Pandals accordingly.
Carnivalization: Altering Context, Space, and Celebration
As we have seen, along with the traditional way of worship and celebration, a parallel system has also been developed for the mass. In this way, the practice of Barwari Durgapuja developed. Purga Pujo turned into a mode of public amusement; integration of belief and imagination started influencing the tradition adding up something new to it. Apart from the traditional outlook of Goddess Durga, the artist has exploited their imagination, sense of aesthetics that started to play an independent role in making the idol and Pandal. Gradually with the inflow of capital, barowari pujo turned to take up the shape of theme pujas, which, as a whole, transformed the city space into a heterotopic space for carnivalization.
Carnival, as a term, denotes a mixture of rituals, games, performances, art-aesthetics, and incorporation of varied carnal experiences. The heterotopic space represents an alternative "social space" for freedom, adequacy, equality, and inclusiveness, devoid of the discrimination between socio-economic status, gender, and age. It enhances the social roles by corroborating the bottom-up approach in the domain of festivity and celebration.
Durgapuja, as a carnival, is characterized by public entertainments, gathering for social, cultural activities, displays of tradition, folklores including art, music, dance performances. It represents the opportunity and chances to reclaim, recreates public space by reflecting the social, political, cultural context. This idea concerns the conceptual development and visualization concerning the theme puja and pandals. It is the period of sanction, where all dogmas and doctrines, as well as the forms and ideologies of the dominant culture, as to say the mechanism of 'structured society' could be temporarily overturned. Today, Durga puja can be tagged as a carnival that promotes the celebration of life and can be found in many countries across the world.
Conclusion:
Durga pujo has become Kolkata's most prominent public art event, riding on the wave of commercialization, globalization, and corporate sponsorship. The city takes enormous pride in this new artistic profile of the festival. Since the late eighties, the concept of 'pandals' has evolved drastically. They are no more simulation of lavish villas made of cloth and bamboo but incorporate the innovations of designers and art professionals. Regarding this context of the initiation of theme pujas, eminent social scientist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said: "Initially, theme pujas were not about sending social messages to the masses, the focus was on artistic sensibility. As long as aesthetic values are maintained, the introduction of such [social] issues is welcome". However, with time, the artist has brought a new dimension to Kolkata's Durga Pujo through a diverse array of environments, popularly known as "theme pandals." The complex visual spectrum and a plethora of experiences created by the artists are rightfully labeled as the "enormous outburst of creativity" by Tapati Guhathakurata. After a detailed study of the evolution and expression of theme pujas since 2002, Guhathakurata explains this indulgence of creativity in the form of high art, not only altered the festival but the city profile too. Thus, the religious phenomenon has altered its expression by incorporating the aspects of carnivalization. The festivity turned to an exposition of creative propositions, encompassing contemporary social, cultural, environmental, economic aspects and aspirations. The context is aptly pointed by the eminent artist Jogen Chowdhury as, "The art movement in Kolkata has steadily incorporated strong doses of postmodernism and Durga Puja has become an exposition of conceptual art" that eulogize and patronize creative aesthetic impulses.