The DharmKriya
Devi Paksha Reader
Issue one · Sharadiya 1433Slow reads from the deskDharmKriya · Kolkata
01Immersion · The lead
Bisarjan: the long goodbye on the Hooghly
How Kolkata lets the Mother go: the boron farewell and the red storm of sindoor khela, the drum-led procession to the ghats, the immersion in the Hooghly, and the Red Road carnival that now closes the festival.
DharmKriya Desk18 Sept 20268 min
Begin reading 
The leadThe index
5 pieces- 02FoodBhog: the kitchen behind the pandalThe khichuri, labra and payesh cooked in a giant cauldron, blessed at the Goddess's feet and shared with the whole para. Who cooks it, what goes in, and how to eat it well.19 Sept 20266 min
- 03CraftThe art of dhak: the heartbeat of Durga PujaWho the dhakis are, where they come from, how the drum is made and played, and why a puja without dhak is a puja that has not started.18 Sept 20267 min
- 04CraftKumartuli: where the Goddess is madeA walk through the potters' quarter of North Kolkata: the river clay and straw skeletons, the coats that dry and crack, the single brushstroke of Chokkhu Daan, and the families, now with more and more women, who have shaped Durga here for three hundred years.18 Sept 20267 min
- 05HeritageBonedi bari: the household pujas that came before the pandalBefore the sarbojanin committees and their theme pandals, Durga Puja belonged to the great houses of old Kolkata, kept on the thakurdalan of a family's own mansion. Many of those courtyards still open their gates for four days each autumn. What a bonedi puja is, how the houses came to be, and how to stand in one with grace.18 Sept 20266 min
