Sovabazar Rajbari Where Clive Met Maa Durga

Joydip Sur

Time may have robbed the Sovabazar Rajbari of some of its grandeur. The palace that once played host to the likes of Lord Robert Clive, Governor General Warren Hastings, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda and several other illustrious individuals might have lost its sheen. But that has in no way dampened the Durga Puja spirit of the senior branch of the Deb family. With days remaining for the biggest festival of Bengal, the historic Sovabazar Rajbari is gearing up to welcome Maa Durga and her four children in its own traditional style. In this edition of Calcutta Chronicle, we look back at the past glory of Sovabazar Rajbari.

The patriarch of Deb family was Nabakrishna Deb Bahadur or Nabakissen Munshi – Lord Robert Clive’s munshi.  After the demise of Ramcharan Deb, his son Nabakrishna was made to learn Urdu, Parsian, Arabic and English by his mother.  A proficient Nabakrishna was appointed as a Persian teacher of Warren Hastings in 1750. This initiation brought Nabakrishna closer to the British high command and he was appointed as a munshi of Governor Drake and started sharing his intelligence with the British on foreign relation, which later proved to be crucial for the establishment British supremacy in Calcutta. It is also believed that Nabakrishna carried out confidential work for the British East India Company in the Battle of Plassey, winning over many of the zemindars.

After the defeat of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah the celebration was all around in the British Colony. Lord Clive desired a grand ‘thanks giving ceremony’ for all the Britishers, but the only Church in Calcutta had been demolished by Siraj-ud-Daulah almost two years back. When Nabakrishna came to know about the wish of Lord Clive, he advised Clive that he could offer thanks to the Goddess at his Durga Puja. Instantly Clive had replied in a grave tone voicing his concern of him being a Christian. A wily Nabakrishna assured him saying, “That can be managed.” It is said the loot (8 crore rupees) from Siraj’s treasury was divided among three people – Nabakrishna, Ramchandra Ray (founder of Andul Rajbari) and Amir Baig Khan.

Meanwhile the British had started rebuilding the fort at Govindapur and the Debs were given compensatory land at Sutanuti. Originally the property encompassed 23 bighas of land comprising the palace, administrative office, pond, tennis lawn, library, dancing room and garden and this was from where Raja Nabakrishna ran the seven departments which Hastings had made him charge of. Nabakrishna built two houses on either side of the road, now named after him. The original house went to Gopimohon Deb – his adopted son and another one for himself which eventually passed on to his own son, Rajkrishna born late in his life.

Durga Puja was introduced in October 1757 by Nabakrishna in his newly built thakurdalan which was completed in three months time by engaging extra labour. This house has two chief parts – the thakurdalan facing south and the nachghar built to entertain the Europeans during Durga Puja. The two portions are linked by double storeyed wings, forming a rectangular courtyard of impressive proportions. The thakurdalan shows little European influence in its architecture in contrast to the later house the Nabakrishna built for himself. The compound piers with their cluster of tapering shafts support cusped arches and were topped by a decoration of bouquet motif, usually found in Mughal or Bengal temple architecture. Instead of European balusters we have a solid parapet decorated by terracotta plaques, though mostly lost by this time. The nachghar was entirely Mughal- influenced; it had tapering coloums, alcoves in the walls and a round floral design atop ogee arches. The roof though has collapsed. The later incongruous additions were probably made by Nabakrishna’s grandson, Radhakanta Deb.

Nabakrishna threw his palace gates wide open and invited all and sundry from the three villages along with British dignitaries and other eminent guests. Lord Robert Clive, Warren Hastings and many others had attended the Durga Puja at Sovabazar Rajbari. The celebration used to start inside the palace a month prior to the puja in the presence of local and foreign guests and they were entertained with multifarious cultural programmes like kabi gaan, tarja, khemta for locals and bai nautch for the VIPs. A huge mela surrounding Raja Nabakrishna’s palace was also a central point of interest for the people.

Even after the passage of more than 250 years, the Durga Puja at Sovabazar Rajbari is still being performed by Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb Bahadur’s descendants at the same thakurdalan. Illustrious personalities like Sadhak Ramprosad Sen, Ramakrishna Paramhansa Deb and his principle disciple Swami Vivekanada and Rabindranath Tagore had graced the palace on numerous occasions.

Durga Puja of Sovabazar Rajbari is performed based on ‘Brihadnanikeswar Puran’. The image of the Goddess Durga has remained identical since the inception of the puja at this palace. Unlike other images the body of the lion resembles more a horse (like the unicorn) than that of a lion. The entire structure consisting of Goddess Durga, her four children, along with the Mahisasura, the lion are accommodated within a single compact frame which is called ‘ekchala’ in Bengal. Artisans start preparing the image from the auspicious date of Rathyatra and take around three months to give the final touch to the idol. The same ancestral moulds used by the forefathers for creating the faces of Gods and Goddesses are used till today. The artisans who prepare the idol have been involved in this profession through generations maintaining the age old tradition. Thirty-six Brahmins from across the country would be invited during the puja.

Sending off Devi Durga to her consort Shiva’s house is also done in a very special way. The family still maintains the tradition of carrying idols on the shoulder for immersion and around 40 people carry them till the ghat. On reaching the ghat, the clay idols are carried in two boats to the middle of the Hooghly and lowered there. Earlier two Neelkantha birds would be released during every immersion to carry the message to Lord Shiva that Durga has left for Kailash with her children but that practice has been given up for the past couple of years.