The image and concept of Goddess Durga is deeply entrenched within the heart of India, especially in Bengal. From the terracotta temples at Bishnupur to the temples at Hoysala, from Rajput miniatures to the Kangra school, from the Kalighat paintings to the early Bengal oils—artists for centuries have been fascinated with the iconography of the ten-armed goddess.
The name of Goddess Durga is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘durg,’ which means fortress or castle, denoting something mighty or highly inaccessible. The goddess is first mentioned in the ‘Devi-Sukta’ of the Rigveda; however, as a deity, she appears in the ‘Taittiriya Aranyaka.’ So awe-inspiring was her presence that she is also found on the coins of Chandragupta I during 305-325 AD. Similarly, she is also found in the coins of Kanishka from the Kushan dynasty.
The idea of Durga gradually evolved from the concept of motherly protective power that has been nourished in every ancient civilization since the beginning of time. In Indian civilization, this deity has been expressed in various forms. At times, she is seen as ‘Mahishasuramardini’; at times, she appears as Bhadrakali, Jagaddhatri, or Parvati—all different expressions of the same ‘Shakti.’ In pre-modern Indian art, we find a variety of expressions of Durga in the Kalighat Patachitras and the Early Anonymous Bengal Oils. In the early Bengal oils, most of the images of Durga are mythical, depicting the goddess as she is worshipped in Bengal during a particular period of the year. However, the Kalighat paintings show a variety of expressions of the Goddess.
Myth and daily life blend to form a unique visual synthesis. Images show Shiva in his conventional attire taking a walk with Ganesh in his arms, while Durga or Parvati walks beside him, extending her hands toward the child, wanting to take Ganesh in her arms. This merging of the divine with a commonplace activity like an evening walk was unique to the Kalighat School, which flourished near the temple vicinity and was patronized by the British. This was just one example of how the iconography of Durga has been treated in our art—both in pre-modern and post-modern India. In Bengal, there emerge two very distinct manifestations of the Goddess—one as mythical, a source of power, and the other as worldly, depicted as a daughter, bride, or mother within the family.
In the paintings of the Neo-Bengal School, Goddess Durga has been delineated by various artists in different forms and manifestations. We may recall a beautiful watercolor painting by Gaganendranath Tagore, depicting the immersion procession of Devi Durga executed in a Japanese wash method, emanating divine light on the image of the Goddess. This image was different from the contemporary images by other artists of the Neo-Bengal School. Most of the depictions done by Nandalal Bose were classical in form and linear in rhythm. Jamini Roy’s depiction of Durga was different from any other artist of the Bengal School. He assimilated folk simplicity and sobriety with modernist sophistication. His Goddess is mostly depicted as the ‘Eternal Mother’—the mother of the popular spirit of Bengal. ‘Ganesh Janani’ was his preferred theme. Ramkinkar Baij had a great love for depicting the great Goddess both in his paintings and sculptures.
To the artists of the early 40s, the basic image and concept of Durga marked a departure from what was considered ‘traditional’; it underwent radical changes. These artists depicted and transformed the image through an assimilation of traditional Indian motifs along with Western modernist forms. The works of Nirode Mazumdar, Paritosh Sen, Shanu Lahiri, Abani Sen, and Sunil Madhav Sen provide ample examples of such a departure. The works of Nirode Mazumdar, in particular, stand out as he combined elements of tantra and expressionism to arrive at a unique style. This East-West synthesis took complete shape in the works of artists who emerged in the late 50s. The Kalighat School was a source of inspiration for Bijon Chowdhury. Prokash Karmakar, who returned from Paris, shattered his forms in the light of Western expressionism.
From the 60s, artists like Ganesh Pyne emerged with a different approach. The image of Durga was a favorite theme—he drew her in her traditional form. Divinity and mythical inwardness were essential features of his Durga—he never deviated from it. Bikash Bhattacharjee, in his famous ‘Durga’ series, brought down the divinity of the Goddess to an earthly level. For Bikash, every woman was a manifestation of Durga. When they suffered, the eternal divinity suffered. In their celebration of life and motherliness, the divinity was celebrated. Bikash Bhattacharjee was highly successful in integrating myth with the mundane. By placing the third eye on his women, he invested the common womenfolk with a sense of godliness.
Jogen Chowdhury depicted Durga from a rebellious standpoint in distorted and expressionist forms, while for Sakti Burman, the Goddess descends from heaven onto earth to play with children amidst lush and fantastic gardens. Burman heightened Western classicism with Indian mythology. In Arpita Singh’s work, Durga often appears with a pistol in hand, ready to kill and demolish the urban criminals who threaten life to a point of destruction.
The form and the way of interpreting the Goddess have undergone rapid changes with the passage of time. The post-modernists and the proponents of conceptual art of the 90s used the image with irony and rebelliousness in their installations and video art, heightening the convention towards a super-real value. Since the early days of our civilization until the present era of conceptual art, Durga—the fierce warrior Goddess—plays a ubiquitous role in the life and art of our country. This ‘power’ has been the primary motivating force for all life.
- Vinayak Pasricha