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Down the lanes of Balaram Dey Street, near Girish Park Metro station, stands a house that has seen time pass in silence – its walls cracked and courtyard worn, yet its spirit alive with tradition and devotion.
This is the house of solicitor Shamul Dhone Dutta, who was a lawyer at the Calcutta High Court. Here, the tradition of their century-old Barir Kali Puja still breathes through faith and responsibility, with a few hiccups on the sidelines.
Unlike the grandeur that surrounds the palatial houses in Kolkata during Kali Puja or Durga Puja, this house embodies its heritage with understated grace. The family, headed by Ambarnath Ghosh, the current patriarch, still upholds the rituals initiated by their ancestor Shamul Dhone Dutta, following the birth of his daughter Rajlaxmi Devi’s grandson in 1883.
Later, Dutta gifted the house to his daughter, Rajlaxmi, and her husband, Sarat Chandra Ghosh. Since then, the Ghoshs have continued the tradition of celeberating Durga Puja and Kali Puja in this household.
However, over time, the family faced challenges over expenses. Yet, for them, the Barir Kali Puja is not a spectacle — it is an unsaid pact with their ancestors that they refuse to break.
“My forefather, Shamul Dhone Dutta, never made any arrangements for a trustee — the kind that collaborates with bonedi families in Kolkata to fund heritage pujas. Since the responsibility lies entirely with us, the expenses are shared equally among the seven families. We prefer to keep it humble, with our focus on ensuring its long-term sustenance,” Ambarnath Ghosh, 92, told My Kolkata.
Started in the same year as its Durga Puja, the Shamul Dhone Dutta Barir Kali Puja is observed with humble arrangements. The idol in this household is revered as Dakshina Kali, a popular and benevolent form of the goddess Kali Devi, worshipped as a household deity.
In this form, the Kali is often depicted in black or dark blue and is sometimes shown with a calm, smiling face despite her fierce iconography. The Kali idol, which is about four-feet tall, is made by potters from Kumartuli.
In the past, week-long jatra performances used to take place in the courtyard of Shamul Dhone Dutta’s household. However, in later years, they couldn’t continue with it due to economic strain.
The family priest, Nirmal Banerjee, who has been performing the Dutta Barir Kali Puja for over three decades, said that before Kali Puja, the Ghoshs perform the Alakshmi puja.
“We perform a yajna and light up 108 lamps as a part of the puja,” Nirmal said.
For bhog, the Ghoshes offer sweets — sugar syrup-laced khaja, gaja, naru, and fruits. They also offer special kochuri at the puja, which is customised at the sweet shop Ghosh & Co. Sweets.
The Ghosh family continues their tradition of offering naibedya to those involved in the Puja, including the dhaakis and the person who brings Ganga water for the rituals, as a token of appreciation for their participation and involvement over the years.
