Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal by McDermott Rachel Fell;

Author:McDermott, Rachel Fell;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion/Hinduism/Rituals & Practice
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 7.3. A Jurassic Park dinosaur entertaining onlookers at Kālī Pūjā. Kolkata, October 1998. Photo by Rachel Fell McDermott.

So which is it? Does Kālī Pūjā contain reminders of her fierce past that provide devotees cause for pride—and discomfort—regarding her Tantric origins and distinctiveness? I have certainly argued for this. Or is Kālī Pūjā so much like Durgā Pūjā that both have become examples of a form of urban religion characterized by revelry, rivalry, and even nostalgic longing that has developed fairly uniformly since the 1920s? I have provided evidence for this point as well.

In the end I am forced to conclude—like Kālī herself, holding Tantric reminders in one set of hands and devotional reassurances in the other—that both interpretations are true. One cannot judge as anything other than a desire to control and enhance the experience of Kālī Pūjā, the spate of police-initiated directives forbidding rowdy-ism, dangerous firecrackers, noise level above a certain decibel, and Kālī images too tall to pass under electric wires on their way to river immersions. The 2004 announcement that Kālīghāṭ and Dakṣiṇeśvar were being scheduled by the Government of West Bengal for massive renovations—to be directed by the Kolkata Municipal Development Authority, overseen by the State Tourism Department, and paid for by a Boston-based NRI group called the Boston Pledge—was welcomed by most pilgrims, since the plans included guesthouses of international standards and even carparks.48 Such a move was intended to commodify, market, and upgrade the Goddess. That, as of 2009, the temple renovations were still blocked by the temple authorities themselves shows that not everyone values the middle-class ideals of cleanliness, order, and public accountability.

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