The autumn day of Mahalaya, ahead of the five festive days, is considered as the day of awakening of Goddess Durga. The voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra on radio and the telecast of Mahishasur Mardini on various TV channels are shared memories of Kolkatans associated with this day. The arrival of this day on the calendar also adds a new vigour to the month-long festive preparations, as we are reminded that the festive days aren’t too far away. The City of Joy tirelessly gears up for its biggest festival from this day onwards. Following Mahalaya, the welcoming rituals of Maa Durga are performed on the sixth day or Sashthi with the uncovering of the face and the banana tree is bathed in the river and draped with a sari on Saptami or the seventh day. Other rituals follow on the remaining days of the five days.
The second was captured on Beadon Street in north Kolkata.
As we observed Mahalaya yesterday, keeping in mind the rituals, The Telegraph planned an exclusive shoot on the themes of welcoming Maa Durga to the city merged with the fashion trend of wearing dhotis. Shot on Jagannath Ghat and Beadon Street, we showed the arrival of Maa Durga in our city in consecutive frames while showing a traditional yet vibrant and comfortable dhoti lookbook for men and a contemporary dhoti-inspired drape of a traditional sari on our muse Susmita Chatterjee. In other frames, we tried to capture the contemporary ways of wearing and styling dhotis and dhoti-style outfits. Take a cue from the Indian ethnic, Western and Indo-western styles and get ready to slay in your own dhoti style this Puja.
(L-R) Abhiroop sported an Abhishek Dutta ensemble. The linen handwoven distress denim bomber jacket was paired with a printed dhoti with denim detailing. Susmita donned a Kavya Singh Kundu outfit. A handwoven cotton bralette in natural indigo was paired with dhoti-style indigo pant with asymmetrical cuts. The look was styled with a handwoven cotton jamdani jacket in indigo, detailed with contrast stitch work and beads and silver jewellery from Earthaments. Nishchay was styled in Abhishek Dutta. The checkered black-and-white dhoti with crochet border and leather pockets was teamed with a charcoal black bandhgala with leather detailing.
Susmita’s Puja Days
I am planning to spend this Puja in my hometown with my parents and looking forward to indulging in my mother’s home-cooked food made with a lot of love. Pandal-hopping is very important and looking gorgeous is mandatory. Meeting my school friends is a must for me. Puja to me is gearing up on Sashthi, adda on Saptami, anjali on Ashtami, sindoor khela on Dashami — I prefer to do all these things during Puja because I don’t get to do these on any other day of the year. What I look forward to most every year is the artwork done in the Puja pandals, it mesmerises me. That creativity gives me the strength to think more and more. I love to celebrate the shakti of Goddess Durga, it inspires me.
Anupam Chatterjee
In this shoot, our idea was to introduce dhoti in a modern, contemporary way as a part of our Puja styling this year. Abhishek Dutta came up with a different line of dhotis using distressed denims, cotton fabric, shibori design. Kavya made a dhoti-style Western outfit for Susmita, and Parama’s red sari was styled on Susmita in an easy-to-do drape way inspired from dhoti draping styles. Dhotis are no longer about kora fabric with brown borders. The concept of wearing dhotis has changed a lot. We showed how to style it with layering, T-shirts, blazers and jackets. Dhoti is more than a traditional outfit now that can be easily incorporated into Indo-western contemporary styling
— Anupam Chatterjee, Stylist
Rangeet Raheel (left) sported a cotton printed dhoti in vibrant festive shades of orange and purple, teamed with a purple linen lapel jacket and a soft kantha stole. If dhoti or pre-stitched dhoti is beyond your comfort zone, opt for this printed pannelled dhoti pants on Mohammad Shabbir Beig, paired with a brown embroidered linen lapel jacket on a black T-shirt. Both Outfits by Abhishek Dutta
Designers On The Dhoti Style Trend
Parama Ghosh
When I introduced dhoti in our collection, I was a little apprehensive not because I was underconfident but because people told me no one wears a dhoti. From the time we launched it five years back, I have seen they have been one of our best-selling items. It is an extremely smart drape and at the same time gives the feeling of a Bengali traditional wear. Men and women equally wear dhoti in different styles and even richer weaves like a Baluchari or a Benarasi is being worn in the form of a dhoti by both men and women. Wearing saris in dhoti style was very popular amongst both men and women and it has emerged as a trend more so this year — Parama Ghosh
Abhishek Dutta
This year, I think, people are going for various colours in dhoti. Previously, we used to see a beige or tussore colour. The trend is such that a contrast dhoti is going well with the kurta or other styles like a blazer or jacket. Printed dhotis are also in trend apart from solid-colour cotton and linen ones. Pre-stitched dhotis and dhoti pants are much more in fashion, keeping in mind the comfort factor and the youngsters who actually don’t know how to wear a dhoti, it is easier for them to try the dhoti look like that. In the shoot, we incorporated interesting elements like denim, checks and leather. These are the new kinds of dhotis that go well with Western outfits, too, like we tried in the shoot. So, there is no need to restrict it to just a kurta look — Abhishek Dutta
Kavya Singh Kundu
Clothing thankfully isn’t gender-centric anymore and that’s been a long time coming. The dhoti pant has been around for years and years and with time it’s become a consistent trend and style for men and women alike. For our festive collection ‘Tale as Old as Time’, we’ve explored the dhoti as a dhoti bralette co-ord set styled with an indigo jamdani blazer. We’ve styled the look this way keeping in mind the comfort of the wearer, which is apt for a post-pandemic lifestyle, so that no one has to miss out on the dhoti trend this year
— Kavya Singh Kundu
Pictures: Pabitra Das
Hair and make-up for male models: Bhaskar Biswas
Susmita’s make-up: Kaju Guha
Susmita’s hair: Amrapali