Where Gods Reside: Sacred Places of Kolkata

Portuguese, Armenians, English, Scots, Jews, Parsis, Greeks, Japanese and Chinese had come to Kolkata from the eighteenth century to reap their fortunes. A constellation of impressive religious edifices that is linked to the City’s mercantile history was the result. Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jain and Buddhist communities from across the subcontinent also built places of worship in the same city. In this book, Kolkata’s unique spiritual heritage is presented through splendid photographs of its diverse places of worship that are symbols of Kolkata’s composite culture. The narrative, that accompanies each place of worship featured, provides readers with insights into the City’s history as well as introduces the customs and traditions of the array of communities who made the city their home. The multi-religious ethos of the city is especially important today when diversity is increasingly being threatened by forces of homogeneity and globalization.

Mala Mukerjee

Jael Silliman was a tenured Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Iowa and a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, New York, working on Reproductive Rights and Justice for Women. She has written extensively about the Baghdadi Jewish community. Her books on this subject are Jewish Portraits, Indian Frames; The Man with Many Hats and The Teak Almirah. Jael is now an independent scholar, consultant and writer.

Jael Silliman

A graduate in Applied Art and Design Studies in Photography from the London Guildhall University, Mala Mukherjee’s work has been exhibited in all major cities in India and abroad. She has received several awards for excellence from the Owen Rowley Art Foundation (London), the Academy of Visual Media, New Delhi, 2nd China International Digital Photography exhibition, Beijing and Honorary Fellowship of the Bangladesh Photographic Society.