Football is no longer the only bond between Calcutta and Nigeria.
The country that once sent players like Chima Okorie, Emeka Ezugo and Chibuzor Nwakanma to the city’s football fields now houses a Kali temple whose deity was shipped from Calcutta itself. This Diwali, the temple in Lagos hosted its first-ever Kali Puja.
“There are about 300 to 350 Bengalis here, including children. We have been organising Durga Puja for 42 years. In recent years, we began discussing the idea of a permanent temple, like other Indian communities have,” said Chandi Senapati, trustee board member of the Lagos Bangiya Parishad, speaking to Metro over the phone.
Indians settled in the Nigerian capital are centred in Ilupeju, an area on the outskirts of Lagos where all the temples are located.
“There are already Balaji, Ram, and Jagannath temples here. When we proposed a Kali temple and sought land from the Hindu Mandir Foundation, everyone welcomed it. In fact, other Indian communities came forward to contribute once we began raising funds,” Senapati said.
Another member, Anupam Ghoshal, got in touch with a potter in Kalighat. Soon, a 4-foot idol carved from black stone was being shipped in a container to Lagos along with essential materials for running the temple. In January, the temple’s doors were formally opened.
“We had an excerpt from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s Chander Pahar in our Bengali textbook in school. Who knew, like the protagonist of that novel, I too would get a job in Africa,” said Brajanath Bandyopadhyay, 23, from Hooghly, the priest of the temple.
The son and grandson of Sanskrit tol pandits, Brajanath arrived in Lagos with his father, who helped him set up the temple before returning home.
Brajanath, who earlier led the Chandipath during the association’s Durga Puja, conducted the temple’s first Kali Puja single-handedly.
“All fruits and vegetables needed for bhog are available there, though a bit costlier,” said the young priest, now back in Hooghly on his first vacation. During his absence, the Odiya priest from the nearby Jagannath temple performs Ma Kali’s daily rituals.
For Senapati, a dairy technologist who migrated from Naktala two decades ago, this Diwali was special. He had come back for Kali Puja last year. “But with our own Kali Puja here now, it’s unlikely I’ll return to Calcutta during this time again,” he said.