'Kali Dour' brings 300-year-old tradition to life at Malatipur
Darjeeling: Malatipur, a sleepy hamlet in the Chanchal sub-division of the Malda district, is like any other village that one comes across in Bengal. However, the village is home to the unique tradition of 'Kali Dour' (race of Goddess Kali).
On the day after Kali Puja, all the Kali idols of the village and one from a nearby village are carried by the devotees to the Durga Mandir ground in Malatipur.
"Here the idols are taken around the field resembling a race, for around two hours. Then they are brought face-to-face in a symbolic gesture of meeting each other. After this ritual, the idols are carried away and immersed in waterbodies near their respective temples. This tradition is more than 300 years old and is known as Kali Dour," stated Partha Pratim Das, a local resident talking to Millennium Post.
Malatipur is a village around 45 km from Malda and can be reached by bus.
"Earlier it used to be only the residents of our village and nearby villages who used to be witness to this unique tradition. With the advent of social media, Kali Dour has become quite famous. People from outside the district including Kolkata visit Malatipur these days. Many of us who are originally from Malatipur but now live or work elsewhere, return to be a part of the festivities during this time," added Arijit Das, a student.
The tradition had started with 2 Kali idols and has now gone up to 5 from Malatipur and 1 from the neighbouring village of Nayatala.
Tracing the history of Kali Dour, local resident Krishanu Das said: "We have heard from our forefathers that Kali Dour had been started by Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra, king of Chanchal. In those days, only the two Kali idols of Bazar Kali and Buri Kali used to be raced. The idols were carried on the shoulder and raced around for hours. The idol that used to get damaged first was disqualified and the other idol would emerge the winner. The king used to then hand over the prize."
As there was no electricity during those days and as the race used to take place at night, they used to use fire torches, locally known as Hukahuki. Though there is electricity now, the devotees still carry out the Hukahuki during the race.
