Indian Museum to hold Durga idols' exhibition

Kolkata: Durga idols in different forms and guise starting from the 18th Century till the contemporary period will be part of a unique exhibition at Indian Museum that kicks off from Wednesday. The exhibition titled "Durga Our Own Mother" that will be held till October 4 will have seven idols of the Goddess and three paintings related to Devi Durga.

"Durga Puja is that time of the year when people go for pandal-hopping. Our idea to hold this exhibition during this time is a deliberate attempt so that people can connect with the Durga idols culturally and socially with those of yesteryears as they go on to see the contemporary ones. If they witness our exhibition they will able to have an idea of the different forms in which the Goddess was

worshipped in the ancient times and how they have transformed with changing times," Rajesh Purohit, Director of Indian Museum said.

Purohit also delivered a lecture on " Differenet Guises and Forms of Mother" on Tuesday.

The Kalighat Potachitra linked to Devi Durga will also be part of the exhibition. The collection of Durga that will be on display begins from the later Mughal period and also cover the 19th Century.

A senior official of the museum said that in normal days not more than

15 percent of the collection of the museum is put for display. "However, time to time we put up such exhibitions and display the varied exhibits in our collection. This helps us in

proper preservation of our artefacts as well as enable the people to witness them," an official said.

Founded in 1814 at the cradle of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (at the present building of the Asiatic Society, 1 Park Street), Indian Museum is the earliest and the largest multipurpose museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia-Pacific region of the world.