When Bengal Speaks to the World: Mahishasuramardini in English
By Suman Munshi, Chief Editor, IBG NEWS
Kolkata: Who says Bengal has lost its cultural charm?
An extraordinary performance by Karigori Kobiyal Supriyo Sengupta and his team at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, offered a compelling answer to that question.
The team presented Mahishasuramardini—one of the most evocative and enduring expressions of Bengali devotional culture—in English, while preserving the atmosphere, emotion, cultural identity and spiritual resonance of the original tradition.
This was not merely a translation of language. It was an attempt to translate Bengal’s cultural soul for a wider audience.
Mahishasuramardini occupies a special place in Bengal’s cultural imagination. Its powerful narrative of the triumph of Goddess Durga over Mahishasura, combined with its devotional and artistic traditions, has transcended generations. Presenting this heritage in English opens a door for audiences beyond the Bengali-speaking world to experience an important dimension of India’s civilisational and cultural legacy.
The performance demonstrates that preserving tradition does not mean confining it to one language. Tradition can travel across borders when its essence is understood and carefully preserved.
From Applause to Institutional Action
This is precisely where institutions must step in.
Government cultural departments, cultural academies, universities, museums, diplomatic missions and organisations working in the field of Indian heritage should identify and support productions capable of carrying India’s regional cultural traditions to national and international audiences.
There is a strong case for creating a structured programme to document, translate, archive and internationally showcase Bengal’s major performing-art traditions. Selected productions could be presented at cultural festivals, Indian missions abroad, universities and international cultural forums, accompanied by high-quality English documentation explaining their historical, artistic and spiritual contexts.
Public representatives can also play a constructive role by helping such initiatives find institutional platforms rather than allowing exceptional cultural work to remain limited to individual events.
The objective should not be political ownership of culture. The objective should be cultural stewardship.
If an English-language Mahishasuramardini can preserve the emotional power of a deeply Bengali tradition while making it accessible to a global audience, then the model deserves serious institutional attention.
Bengal’s cultural heritage should not merely be remembered during festivals. It should be documented, supported, taught, performed and taken to the world.
The presentation at Golpark therefore represents more than a successful cultural programme. It offers a larger proposition: India’s cultural diversity can become one of its strongest international bridges when regional traditions are presented with authenticity and confidence.
The message from Bengal is clear—its heritage is alive, its artistic vocabulary remains powerful, and its cultural voice is capable of speaking far beyond its linguistic boundaries.
Bengal still has its voice. Bengal still has its magic. The responsibility now is to give that voice the institutional platform it deserves.
— Suman Munshi
Chief Editor, IBG NEWS
