Abstract
This is an exploration of Durga Puja in Glasgow. By comparing and contrasting Durga Puja in Glasgow with that of contemporary Kolkata, as well as Rachel Fell McDermott’s picture of the puja in the north-eastern USA, the chapter explores the aesthetic tradition, the nature of the pratimas, the religious and community context, and the stated aims of the puja committee. The Muslim dimension of the Bengali diaspora is also brought into consideration, finding overlaps between what is significant to all Bengalis, and identifying how Bengali culture manifests itself in the context of the religious practices of Islam. Language and cultural traditions are important across the diaspora communities, but the fostering of religious and national identity nevertheless results in separate expressions and resources for the promotion of the Bengali Language. The diverse Hindu religious traditions of the Indian diaspora have their different manifestations too. The promotion of the Bengali Language can be viewed as crucial to the identity of the Muslim Bangladeshi diaspora; but for the West Bengali community, it is Durga Puja above all that emerges as the unique focus of identity, creating a ‘home from home’, as well as acting as a means of inclusion for the Bengali-speaking Hindus of Glasgow.
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Notes
- 1.
It is sometimes important to know the perspective from which an author approaches their work, and as the only White British author contributing to this volume, some background might be particularly worthy of explanation. I have attempted to write this study through the eyes of a detached observer. And in most respects, I would consider myself to be an outsider in relation to the West Bengali community in Glasgow, whom I did not know in any great numbers before Durga Puja 2019. As a Welshman educated in England, I have not lived in Glasgow as long as most of the people I have been writing about, or even in my native Britain for as long as some of the Bengali Indian and Bangladeshi people who moved to the UK in the 1960s. Yet I do share the affinities of a fellow resident of Glasgow, with close personal ties to West Bengal, and Kolkata in particular, where (outside the restrictions of pandemic diseases) I have spent several weeks or months every year, since 2011, as the guest of local Bengali family friends. I have, in Kolkata, a well-established social circle, Muslim as well as Hindu, Chinese and Christian, extending from that great cosmopolis into Bangladesh. I am in contact with several of my West Bengali and Bangladeshi friends either daily or weekly. I therefore present this study as someone with a personal investment in Bengal and Glasgow, and a commitment of profound friendship and deep regard towards the people of Glasgow, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
- 2.
Johnstone was fluent in Bengali, and this may explain why Bell or Belinda could still not speak or understand English after living in Scotland for several years (Rothschild, 21). It is interesting to note that, as MP for Dysart, Johnstone was known, together with his brother George (1730–1787, MP for various English seats), as an opponent of the slave trade (Rothschild, 22, 321 note 58; Haden-Guest; Fabel).
- 3.
For detailed source references, see Rothschild,368–9, notes 117–122; 454, note 55.
- 4.
For analysis of the census data, see Bailey et al. (1995).
- 5.
Dr. Pulak Kumar Mukherjee, born in Calcutta in 1938, had emigrated from West Bengal to England in 1967, moving to Scotland in 1974 to be a consultant psychiatrist for the Lanarkshire Health Board and died at the age of 51 on 16 August 1989 (BMJ).
- 6.
Mr Johnson had been Prime Minister for two months by the time of Mahalaya (28 September 2019). He wrote,
I send my warmest regards to everyone in Glasgow and across the UK celebrating Durga Puja. Symbolizing the triumph of good over evil, the ceremonial worship of the Goddess Durga is of sacred importance to those of the Hindu faith and is also a wonderful celebration of Hindu traditions, culture and popular customs.
On behalf of the UK Government, I send my best wishes to everyone as you come together to enjoy this year’s celebrations.
- 7.
The suggestion was made by a respondent to this paper, when it was delivered at a symposium in Kolkata that the soliciting and procuring of a letter of felicitation from the Conservative Prime Minister of the UK might imply something about the potential right-wing politics of the Glasgow Durga Puja committee. The likely motivation for seeking the endorsement of the UK Prime Minister, however, can more straightforwardly be explained by comparison with the scenario in New York as described by McDermott. As Mayor of London, Johnson ran on his ‘enthusiasm for London’s “great cultural and ethnic mix,” detailing on his campaign website how his cosmopolitan lineage meant he personified it’, gaining positive coverage even from the UK’s most liberal newspaper (Hill 2011)
- 8.
https://www.bspglasgow.com/membership (accessed 24 June 2020).
- 9.
https://www.bspglasgow.com/event (accessed 24 June 2020).
- 10.
McDermott (2011) (233) suggests that this would be rare in the USA diaspora.
- 11.
McDermott quoting a British description from 1825 of the house of ‘Baboo Pron Kissen Holdor’ in Chinsurah (Hooghly district, West Bengal, near Chandannagar) (McDermott 2011: 11).
- 12.
- 13.
A similar pattern is to be found among the Malayalam community at the Hindu temple in Rutherglen. Carnatic music classes are run every Sunday at the temple. At present, there are three levels available to interested students. All classes are aimed at children. Students follow the syllabus set by OFAAL (Oriental Fine Arts Academy of London), and the classes have various objectives suited to ethnically Indian children growing up in the West (Hindu Temple of Scotland website):
-
To appreciate our dynamic rich culture and traditions
-
To be able to pronounce words in Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam like a native speaker
-
To understand how our music system began and evolved and to have an idea of how ancient some of our systems are
-
To gain an insight into our literature and to appreciate our poets and composers
-
To understand our Mythology and the advanced understanding our culture had about philosophy of life
-
To be able to read the sapta swaras in Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada scripts.
-
The ultimate objective is to produce students who can be independent learners of music, capable of understanding in detail the workings of a Carnatic Music concert.
-
There are also Bharatanatyam classes (a major form of Indian classical dance, originating in Tamil Nadu) and Art of Living classes, teaching Yoga.
-
- 14.
It should be noted that only 4% of the population of Scotland identified as belonging to an ethnic minority in the 2011 census, making Scotland one of the least ethnically diverse regions of the UK—only Northern Ireland, Wales and the north-east of England are less ethnically diverse—although the ratio in Glasgow is 12%, putting Scotland’s largest city near the top of Britain’s ethnically diverse cities, but still a long way behind London, which is at around 40% Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME). See NRS (2011), Russell (2013), ONS (2018).
- 15.
The author’s own anecdotal experience is that ‘Bangal’ Bengalis (i.e. Hindu Bengalis whose families originated in East Bengal/Bangladesh) were fiercely opposed to Scottish independence.
- 16.
The festival was sponsored by the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow), Education Scotland, The British Council and the Scottish Government (SCILT 2020). International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the UNESCO in 1999 following a motion to the General Conference submitted by Bangladesh (UNESCO 1999, 38).
- 17.
https://www.facebook.com/DawatulIslamGlasgow/ (accessed 24 June 2020).
- 18.
The Herald is a national broadsheet newspaper for Scotland, published in Glasgow.
- 19.
Personal communication, University of Glasgow, 31 October 2019.
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Davies, J.R. (2021). Durga Puja in Glasgow. In: Das, S.K., Basak, B. (eds) The Making of Goddess Durga in Bengal: Art, Heritage and the Public. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0263-4_3
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