Importance of a sacred hereditary duty

 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 30: Prabhat Chitrakar is now busy in making the clay idol of Baro Devi at the Debibari temple in Cooch Behar. He is doing this job for the past thirteen years. This is a hereditary job of the Chitrakar family of Dodeyarpar. He had to take up the duty from his father late Bhabendra Chitrakar and paternal uncle late Shisin Chitrakar. But, he is not sure about his son in taking up the hereditary job as he did.

 

Baro Devi is a special form of Goddess Durga worshiped by the Cooch Behar royal family. The idol is totally different from other models of Devi Durga. It was learnt that Maharaja Nara Narayan initiated the puja in 1533 AD. According to sayings, the Mararaja saw the Devi in this form in his dream. He introduced the puja of Baro Devi and the clay-image was made following his description as he saw the Goddess in his dream. Till now the image is identical to the first one to keep the tradition alive. As a hereditary act, Prabhat Chitrakar was entrusted to make the idol this year too.

 

The puja of Baro Devi is performed under Cooch Behar Debottar Trust Board, the guardian body of all temples and religious places of erstwhile Cooch Behar State. The DTB granted Rs 3,000 as remuneration for making of the giant idol this year. As he has to take three helpers on daily wage system Chitrakar requested the DTB to pay him Rs 5,000 but it was not sanctioned. The DTB however provides all the materials necessary for making the idol like clay, straw, paint, bamboo, jute threads and wooden planks.

 

Chitrakar is not from a well-to-do family. He has no farmland for tilling. He has to depend on Rs 1,000 that he gets from the job of night guard at the DTB run Kavirajkhana (Ayurvedic clinic). He also works round the year as an artisan of clay idols on different religious occasions and pujas performed by the DTB. He also makes the clay model of Putana Rakshashi that is a crowd puller at the Raas Mela every year. His son is a student of Class-IX and his daughter reads in Class-III. His wife Saneka knows the magic how to run a family of four with so little income. Chitrakar had left Cooch Behar for Meghalaya to work in a sawmill but he had to come back after his paternal uncle's death to take up the hereditary job. The DTB had asked him to take up the duty and he had to obey, Chitrakar said.

 

Chitrakar is now very busy. He will have to complete his job before Mahalaya. On the day after Mahalaya he will have do Chakshudaan (painting of eyes). On the next day he will decorate the Devi with ornaments supplied by the DTB. After that he will melt away in the crowd for a year as he did for the past thirteen years. []

 

Timber haul

 

COOCH BEHAR, Sept. 30: Cooch Behar social forestry division officials led by Mr A Chatterjee (ADFO) and Mr Rahul Mukherjee (Range Officer) seized sawn timber worth Rs 1-lakh from Kaljani, Khapaidanga, Shibjajna Road and Sukdhani near Pundibari during last two days. At Khapaidanga huge quantity of forest timber was being rafted through Kaljani river. ADFO (SF) Mr SK Baroi said legal actions initiated against the persons involved with the illegal trading of forest timber. []