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...
A billion prayers could not save him. Better than the best medical efforts ensured by the Indian Prime Minister could not save him. The miracle that saved him finally could not save him for telling his story of ultimate human endurance, indomitable willpower and exemplary courage. Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad who was buried under 25 feet of snow and ice for 6 days in Siachen Glacier and rescued alive passed away today in an army hospital in New Delhi where he was admitted on 9 th February, 2016 after being flown in an air ambulance from the Siachen heights. His medical bulletins over the last two days narrated his continuous deterioration with multi-organ dysfunction, lack of oxygen in the brain, blood clotting in his body not responding to maximum possible dosage of medicines and coma. He was on maximal life support system and yet he could not be revived. Today morning he slipped into a deeper coma and passed away shortly after. The whole of India is under a deep sense of loss, s...