Divine spectacle: Bama Kali festival leaves devotees awestruck

Kolkata: For two years, Agnibho Chakraborty had been scrolling through reels of Bama Kali’s dance in Shantipur in Bengal’s Nadia district on his phone. Those fiery eyes, that swaying idol and the crowd roaring like a sea in motion. A second-year commerce student from Kolkata, he had promised himself that one day he would see the goddess dance in person. This year, he finally did. After a near-stampede on the train to Shantipur, he found himself amid thousands, eyes glued to the dancing goddess.

Across Bengal, Kali Puja is celebrated with grandeur but what happens in Shantipur is something else entirely. Here, Bama Kali isn’t just worshipped. She lives in the hearts of people, as she has for over 500 years.

Her immersion procession is more than a ritual. It’s an experience. As the 15-foot idol sways on bamboo poles, carried by hundreds of devotees, she dances on the shoulders of her people while the night sky glows with mashaal.

They call her Bama Kali because her left foot rests on Lord Shiva’s chest. Locals believe that two other deities of Shantipur, Goddess Siddheshwari and Goddess Chanduni, are her close companions. When Bama Kali’s procession passes by Siddheshwari’s temple, the devotees make her dance facing her “friend,” symbolising their reunion. And before she meets the idol of Bombat Kali, believed to be her origin, she dances again, as if greeting her own reflection.

This tradition, born 500 years ago, continues to set Shantipur ablaze with devotion every year. But in the age of smartphones, things have changed. Everyone wants the perfect angle of the dancing goddess.

The crowd often swells beyond control, with little space to breathe, let alone move. Many complain of poor crowd management and unruly drunk men pushing through the masses.

Vloggers like Shayan have shared their unpleasant encounters. Agnibho, too, left the place awestruck but shaken. “It was magical, something I’ll never forget. But it was scary too. There could’ve been a stampede any moment. The police need to step up because what happens here is divine and it deserves to be seen safely,” he said.