Jagaddhatri Puja at the Paul mansion
Butto Kristo Paul was a pioneer industrialist, who founded the business empire of Butto Kristo Paul and Co. The ancestral home of the Paul family is in Shibpur where the legendary businessman, Butto Kristo Paul was born in the year 1835. He lost both his parents at a very tender young age and when he was 12 years old he arrived at his maternal home in Kolkata from where his ambitious venture into the world of business started. Initially, his success came from a well-established , flourishing pharmacy business and then branched out into various other sectors . became an internationally renowed firm and the name and fame of the Paul family spread far and wide. In 1893, Butto Kristo Paul constructed a grand palatial residence at 77, Beniatola Street, Kolkata. The elegance of the mansion is further enhanced by the presence of an exquisitely beautiful, intricately carved thakur dalan (worship place). It is in this thakur dalan where the Supreme Goddess, the protector of the world, Ma Jagaddhatri is worshipped every year since 1900, with great pomp and glory. Before the year 1900, Sri Butto Kristo Paul used to worship the abhaya Ma Durga at his ancestral home in Shibpur. Once in Kolkata, he aimed to shift the Durga Puja to his Kolkata residency. However, as the legend goes, his wife had a dream where Devi Durga appeared in her dreams and instructed her to worship the Goddess in her Jagaddhatri avatar at Kolkata. Pertaining to the wish of the Goddess, Sri Butto Kristo Paul started performing the ritualistic Puja of Devi Jagaddhatri at 77, Beniatola Street while the Druga Puja continued to be held at Shibpur. The successive generations of the Paul family have maintained the traditions over the century and to this date Jagaddhatri Puja is performed amidst gala celebrations at the Pauls’ home in 77, Beniatola Street, Kolkata. The uniqueness about the Jagaddhatri idol is that the Goddess is shown sitting regally with her legs crossed over each other atop her vehicle, the majestic lion. She is accompanied by her four gracefully adorned sakhis (female friends). Beautiful gold ornaments embellish the Goddess and accentuate her beauty. Earlier, artisans were brought in from Bangladesh to accessorize the idol with daker saaj the task of which is now executed by the craftsmen from Kolkata. Cotton balls of akanda cotton are pasted on the earthen sculpture of the lion with gum to represent fur rendering the lion the befitting vehicle of the Devi. The kathamo (backdrop) of the idol is also designed magnificently with impressions of leaves and fruits carved out from metal accentuating the charm of the idol. The rich tradition and grandeur of the Jagaddhatri Puja at the Paul mansion has thus always been a crowd puller and one who has the darshan of the powerful divinity once always looked forward to a revisit with their loved ones in the coming year. On the day of the visarjan, the devi with all her splendor is loaded onto a well decorated lorry and a huge procession with sparkling lights and musical bands and the entire Paul family follows her journey till visarjan and prays for happiness, peace and prosperity to prevail in the forthcoming times.
