A golden-hued goddess, navapatrika carried in a vintage palanquin and a community feast on Navami mark the 300-year-old Roy Bari Durga Puja at Kalikapur in Burdwan. My Kolkata brings you a sneak peek into the unique features of the popular ‘Saat Bhaiyer Pujo’.
The Durga Puja of the Roy family, popularly known as ‘Saat Bhaiyer Pujo’, takes place inside a colossal Durga dalan surrounded by long corridors and a roofless Nat Mandir.
The Durga ‘dalan’ of the Kalikapur Roy family mansion Amitabha Gupta
The rituals of this family pujo differ significantly. Bodhon, the ritual of awakening the Goddess, starts on Krishna Navami with an animal sacrifice, which has become rare these days. The Durga Puja is conducted here as per Kalikapuran. Kathamo Puja is conducted on the day of Ratha Yatra.
A senior member of the family, Asit Kumar Roy, informed that the Navapatrika bathing rituals are performed in the waterbody adjacent to the Durga dalan. The Navapatrika is carried in an age-old dola (small palanquin) along with the ghot by the family members. After the rituals, the Navapatrika is draped in a white sari with a red border.
Navapatrika being taken for bath on Saptami morning, as family members wait with the ‘dola’ Kalikapur Roy family
The skin tone of Goddess Durga is ‘Taptakanchanbarna’ — a blazing golden colour. Goddess Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are decked up with golden coloured foils. Ganesh and Kartick are adorned with dhuti and chadar. The chalchitra depicts the marriage of Shiva, Goddess Durga coming to earth with her family, Krishan Lila and other scenarios. The deity is created on the thakur dalan by artisans for generations without using any mould.
Goddess Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati decked up in golden foils Amitabha Gupta
The Durga dalan is five-arched, with exquisite stucco work on its walls. There is a covered pillared corridor in front of it, where guests can stand and observe the Puja rituals.
No cooked food is provided to the Goddess except luchi (deep-fried puffed bread). One of the main offerings is aatop chaler aamanno, which consists of uncooked, unwashed aatop rice with sweets like Manda, Batasa and Kadma. Other than these, several types of fruits are also offered.
‘Aatop Chaler Aamanno’ is main offering to the deity at Kalikapur Roy family puja Kalikapur Roy family
Apart from the animal sacrifice on Bodhon, three more goats are sacrificed at Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. The meat is divided among the family members and is cooked without onion or garlic.
The Kalikapur zamindar house was built by Sadgop Zamindar Paramananda Roy. Initially, he stayed at Maukhira village, 4km north of Kalikapur. Later, he shifted to Kalikapur. He built at Kalikapur, in the beginning of 19th century, a huge mansion with seven sections – one for each of his seven sons – as well as a Durga dalan with a Nat Mandir. Also he built two Deul temples studded with terracotta work in 1839. But the Durga Puja of the Roy family was conducted even before Paramananda shifted to Kalikapur. Family members say that the Durga Puja of the Roy family has been conducted for over 300 years now.
An elevated view of the Kalikapur Roy family Durga ‘dalan’ Anjan Kumar Kundu
Today, most of the mansion is not suitable for living. Only a handful of family members stay there, but the majority of the family visit the mansion during Durga Puja. Kalikapur Durga dalan has been the shooting location of major films too.
Sandhi Pujo is a grand affair at Kalikapur Roy bari, with earthen lamps being lit as well as a brass lampstand.
Navami is the most happening day for the Roy family – a grand reunion of family members, their friends and relatives. There is a community lunch for family members and even outsiders. Since there is a limited seating arrangement, one needs to inform in advance and pay a token amount to have lunch at the zamindar house. Navami sees a large number of guests, who usually dance while musical instruments like Dhol and Kansar Ghanta are played during Navami Puja. Like Surul Sarkar Bari, Dhak is not played here during Durga Puja. Earlier, open-air plays – jatra – used to take place during Durga Puja, which has now stopped.
Sindur Khela on Dashami evening Kalikapur Roy family
On Dashami, the Nabapatrika is taken to the adjacent waterbody in a dola and immersed. The deity is immersed in the evening at the same place after a round of Sindur Khela by women outside the Durga dalan.
The ghot of Laksmi and some of her accessories are not immersed during Dashami. They are kept aside and immersed next year before Durga Puja.
How to reach
- By train: Reach Bolpur in the morning from Howrah. The zamindar bari is 28km southwest of Bolpur railway station and can be reached by hired car
- By car: Kalikapur is 175km northwest of Kolkata. The route via Burdwan and Panagarh, and finally Aduria Forest, is usually the fastest