Kolkata Durga Puja To Showcase 'Ram Tattoos' Of Chhattisgarh's Ramnami Community

A renowned Durga Puja in Kolkata will showcase images of 'Ram tattoos' of Chhattisgarh's Ramnami community in its pandal, organisers said on Friday.

The move comes amid 'Ramnami', a documentary on the community directed by Bharatbala Ganapathy, winning the Best Hindi Documentary award at the 72nd National Film Awards.

"When we chose the Ramnami Samaj as the heart of 'Nishaan -- the mark', our theme, we knew we were telling a story India needed to hear. The National Award confirms it," Manicktala Chaltabagan Lohapatty Durga Puja committee chairman Sundeep Bhutoria said.

"The film has carried the mark of the community to the nation; this puja, we will carry it to the streets of Kolkata and, through the Durga Puja Connect app, to devotees around the world," he said.

The theme will also feature a special musical composition by Grammy Award winner and Padma Bhushan recipient Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Bhutoria said.

"The theme seeks to explore the centuries-old tradition of tattooing. It also highlights the use of tattoos as a form of protest against social discrimination. The Ramnamis were historically subjected to caste-based exclusion, and they adopted the practice of tattooing the name of Lord Ram on their bodies, including their faces. Through the theme, we aim to portray a tattoo as a mark that provides a sense of protection and security while remaining deeply intertwined with faith, connecting the human and the divine," he added.

The Ramnami community, which traces its roots to the 1890s, is known for inking its members with tattoos of Lord Ram's name as a lifelong expression of devotion and as a peaceful response to caste-based exclusion from temples.

Elders of the Ramnami community attended the launch of Chaltabagan's theme, conceived by artist Aditi Chakraborty, here on August 31 and performed recitations from the 'Ramcharitmanas'.

Ramnami community members also wear block-printed 'odhni' (stole) bearing the name of Lord Ram, gather annually for a 'Bhajan Mela' and recite the 'Ramcharitmanas' as part of their devotional traditions.

President Droupadi Murmu presented the National Award to the documentary makers at a ceremony in Gujarat's Ekta Nagar on September 22.

Founded in 1943 in north Kolkata's Manicktala area, the puja is known for its theme-based presentations and has received several awards over the years.