{"id":228,"date":"2014-11-14T20:24:38","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T14:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/?p=228"},"modified":"2015-06-07T06:53:17","modified_gmt":"2015-06-07T01:23:17","slug":"a-dentist-to-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/?p=228","title":{"rendered":"A Dentist to Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dilipda is preparing no less than five images for Jagadhatri \u00a0Puja, which is celebrated throughout West Bengal and parts of Odissa about one week after Kali Puja (late October to early November) and exactly one month after Durga Puja.<\/p>\n

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The courtyard outside of Dilip Pal’s Kumartuli studio, where he prepares images for Jagadhatri Puja.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jagadhatri is considered to be a calm incarnation of\u00a0Durga. \u00a0She is known as the “Holder of the World,” and it is believed that if\u00a0Jagadhatri is not there, \u00a0the world will fall down! \u00a0 The origins of Jagadhatri Puja are unclear. \u00a0One account is that the puja was founded by Sarada Devi, the wife of Ramakrishna.\u00a0 Jagadhatri celebrations are observed today with great joy in Ramakrishna missions around the world.<\/p>\n

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Dilip Pal working on a Jagadhatri image at his Kumartuli studio, Kolkata<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, Dilipda is amusing himself by repeatedly telling\u00a0me that he is\u00a0“The Dentist To Lions,” \u00a0as he finely sculpts each\u00a0feline’s memorable dentition.\u00a0\u00a0In researching Jagadhatri’s history and observing\u00a0the images of many Kumartuli workshops, \u00a0I\u00a0saw reference to both lions and\u00a0tigers.<\/p>\n

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Priest performing rites at Jagadhatri Puja<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Jagadhatri \u00a0image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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In addition to being accompanied by a lion\/tiger, the three-eyed Jagadhatri is described as being the color of the morning sun. \u00a0She holds a conch and a bow in her two left hands and a chakra and a five-headed arrow in her two right hands.<\/p>\n

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Kumartuli artisan at work on Jagadhatri image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of the Jagadhatri images depict the\u00a0lion stepping upon the\u00a0elephant demon, Karindrasura, who represents\u00a0human pride\/power. \u00a0According to Sri Ramakrishna, \u201cJagadhatri arises in the heart of a person,\u00a0who can control the frantic elephant called mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Straw Jagadhatri images-in-process at nighttime, Kumartuli.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dilipda is preparing no less than five images for Jagadhatri \u00a0Puja, which is celebrated throughout West Bengal and parts of Odissa about one week after Kali Puja (late October to early November) and exactly one month after Durga Puja. Jagadhatri is considered to be a calm incarnation of\u00a0Durga. \u00a0She is known as the “Holder of … Continue reading A Dentist to Lions<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25,110,14,107,39,19,20,6,26,22,9,102,103,49,24,21,108,105,104,106,17,98,109,100,13],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-calcutta","tag-clay-images","tag-httpwww-cynthiasiegel-com","tag-dilip-pal","tag-dilipda","tag-durga","tag-durga-puja","tag-fulbright-scholar-program","tag-fulbright-nehru","tag-idol-makers","tag-india","tag-jagadhatri","tag-jagadhatri-puja","tag-kali-puja","tag-kolkata","tag-kumartuli","tag-lion","tag-ramakrishna","tag-ramakrishna-mission","tag-sarada-devi","tag-sculpture","tag-terracruda","tag-tiger","tag-unfired-clay-sculpture","tag-west-bengal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cynthiasiegel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}