Ever since Raja Nabakrishna Deb started his Durga Puja, shortly after the Battle of Plassey, rich families of north Calcutta followed suit. And soon, the pomp and splendour of Durga Puja became a major point of competition between the north Calcutta babus. In some ways, it was a precursor of the rivalry between various barowari puja committees today. This led to coining of the famous phrase:
Goddess Durga adorns herself with jewelleries at Jorasanko’s Shib Krishna Dawn’s house, partakes lunch at Abhay Charan Mitra’s house in Kumartuli and enjoys music and dance at the Sovabazar Rajbari
While the Dawn family puja was famous for their massive spending on jewellery for the goddess, the lunch spread at Abhay Charan Mitra’s house was the talk of the town with the menu consisting of more than 100 items every day. Meanwhile, the musical evenings at Sovabazar Rajbari, usually attended by the who’s who of the Company administration, spared no expenses – with musicians and dancers brought over from different parts of India like Lucknow, Benares and Delhi.
Visitors at Sovabazar Rajbari during a previous Durga Puja Shutterstock
But among all this, there was one Durga Puja that was quite different in nature. The patron of this puja did not lack in finances – in fact, he was so rich that he was compared with famous and uber-rich American Jewish Rothschild family. But unlike his contemporaries, he did not want to use his wealth in a display of financial might. Instead, he left behind an ever-lasting legacy of kindness and philanthropy.
Motilal Sil, or Mutty Lall Seal as he was known among the British, was born in Calcutta in 1792. His father was a cloth merchant who passed away when Mutty Lall was just five-years old. Mutty Lall received his early education in a pathshala and later studied in Martin Bowl English School and the Baboo Nityananda Sen High School. He started his career selling bottles and corks to a Mr. Hudson, one of the largest importers of beer in the city. Hudson had a major interest in indigo, and soon found Mutty Lal’s sound judgment very useful in his business dealings.
A sketch of Mutty Lal Seal’s house at Colootola
Mutty Lall’s reputation spread, and very shortly, he was working as a ‘banian’ (agent) to more than 20 top trading houses in Calcutta across trades like indigo, silk, sugar, rice and saltpetre. Securing a contract to supply various items to the garrison at Fort William was a major turning point in Mutty Lal’s business career. After that, he went from strength to strength – making a fortune in landed property speculation, money lending, insurance, cargo shipping and the import-export trade. Mutty Lall Seal was the first to use steamships for internal riverine trade. It was his influence that led to the Oriental Life Insurance Company (later New Oriental Insurance Company) starting to underwrite life policies for Indians.
But even though he amassed unprecedented amounts of wealth, Mutty Lall Seal never forgot his simple beginning in life. He remained a pious, polite and just man, always trying to help others. In 1841, Seal founded an alms house at Belgharia, where 500 destitute were offered food daily. He donated land worth Rs 12,000 to the British administration where Calcutta Medical College was constructed. In 1842, Seal founded the Mutty Lall Seal Free College to provide education to children from all classes of society free of cost.
Seal founded the Mutty Lall Seal Free College in 1842
Seal’s philanthropy also extended to the Seal family Durga Puja. Back then, Durga Puja was entirely a family affair – and the domain of the ultra rich. The guest list consisted of the cream of the society. Commoners were usually not allowed to take part in the festivities. This pained Mutty Lall Seal a lot. He thus started a Durga Puja which became an exception in those times. For the festive days, the gates of the Seal house were open to one and all. There was no discrimination. Anybody could come in, offer puja to the Goddess and have prasad. For those four-five days, Mutty Lall Seal distributed clothes to the poor and needy with his own hands.
Not only that, it was his custom to offer financial help to any person in genuine need of money during the Puja days. Poor meritorious students, small traders facing business loss and fathers with the responsibility of marrying off their daughters – all lined up outside the Seal mansion for receiving a share of Mutty Lall Seal’s largesse. As time passed, and this news spread, assistance seekers started coming from even outside Calcutta. Mutty Lall never turned anyone away.
Seal’s bathing ghat, where 40 dhaakis would accompany the puja procession to immerse the idols in the Ganges
However, this did not mean that there was any compromise as far the festivities were concerned. Every day, plays were staged with performances based on Hindu mythology. All artists and helping hands were paid generously by Seal. Every year, a fresh set of gold jewellery, studded with diamonds and other precious stones, were ordered for the idols, as well as all female members of the family. A delicious feast was arranged every day of the puja. On the day of immersion, 40 dhaakis would accompany the procession to immerse the idols in the Ganges. It was a given that they would also receive handsome rewards from the man of the house. For Mutty Lall Seal, Durga Puja was a time to not only to celebrate with pomp and fervour, but also to give back to society.
In the times we live in today, the society would be well served by having a conscientious man like Mutty Lall Seal amongst us.
