Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year. With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...
Article first published as Tributes To Dara Singh: The Legendary Wrestler-Actor Of India! on Technorati. He had 500 professional wrestling bouts to his credit and remained undefeated in all them. His opponents included the names of the greatest international wrestlers of that time like King Kong from Australia, George Gordenko from Canada and John Desilva from New Zealand. He was the first ever sportsperson to be nominated to the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Towering over six feet with eight-pack abs and a strikingly handsome appearance he was the first he-man of Indian movies. He was also the first Indian movie hero to take off the shirt! He acted in nearly 200 Hindi and Punjabi films since the early sixties till 2007 as the main leads and character roles. Dara Singh , born in 1928 in the state of Indian Punjab, was encouraged to take up the wrestling profession thanks to his physical assets. After achieving mastery over the art he was mostly invited by the kings of Ind...