For many years, Kolkata’s Durga Puja pandals have been a theatre for thought. Through the power of art, many pandals offer a unique take on important social issues. This year, for example, the Jagat Mukherjee Park’s Durga Puja pandal is themed on a future threatened by the advent of AI. It addresses the fear that AI will take away jobs and poses an important question: is AI a boon or bane? While the pandal depicts AI taking the world by storm 50 years on, Maa Durga emerges triumphant over technology, keeping intact the human connect.
“Human beings are consumed by AI,” said Dwaipayan Roy, general secretary, Jagat Mukherjee Park Durga Puja pandal. “The Gen-Z needs to realise how to use AI and technology responsibly as they can disrupt lives. Yet, if used correctly, it can be a boon.”
Cables and keyboards hang from the ceiling of the pandal, symbolic of the open skies dominated by technology. The central part of the ceiling portrays a huge robot and a time machine, signalling the impending doom that we are facing because of technology. A huge vacuum tower in the middle indicates how in future, AI can have the power to suck us in. Yet, the prominently-placed idol of Goddess Durga encompasses core values that centre the human mind. It took an estimated Rs27 lakh to set up the pandal.
“This is the 89th year of our Durga Puja pandal and it was only after 1976 that we started exploring newer themes depicting current social issues,” said Roy. “This time we are conveying a message on the perils of technology, AI and mobile phones.”
Future tense: Images of Jagat Mukherjee Park’s AI-themed Durga Puja pandal | Salil Bera
At the Falguni Sangha Durga Puja pandal in South Kolkata’s Ballygunge area, however, AI is a more benign force. Visitors are transported to a museum in Europe, with AI-generated artwork dominating the walls. They are offered a cultural dialogue through visual frames, said former IAS officer Debashish Sen, the brain behind the theme. He wanted to send the message that art, music and video can be recreated tastefully using AI to tell a beautiful story.
“Durga Puja is now a UNESCO heritage event and I find that mostly pandal themes are centred around heritage, depicting the nostalgia of yesteryears,” said Sen. “However, I believe this is also the time for a futuristic look at how AI can be helpful. [At the pandal], 60 paintings are recreated using AI-generated prompt engineering.”
Visitors are encouraged to ponder these artworks, themed on subjects as diverse as the recent crash of Air India Flight 171, Swami Vivekananda portrayed as a child, a four-handed Lord Buddha which is only seen in Himachal Pradesh and an unconventional depiction of Maa Durga. It cost Rs6 lakh to create these paintings using AI.
Artisans who conceptualise pandals, too, are using ChatGPT and other AI apps to create striking images of Goddess Durga and other idols. AI has helped artisans to delve into the uncharted terrain of tech-blended art. It is easier now for them to meet the organisers’ demands for exclusivity and an enhanced experience for pandal hoppers.
The various themes are in sync with the Durga Puja festival being included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. As Sen observed, many pandals across Kolkata focus on ancient literature and culture, while some depict social issues in an unconventional manner—like the impact of AI, which is spreading fast and transforming every aspect of our lives. While the debate on AI continues, for now it is allowing Kolkata’s pandal hoppers to transcend space and time, and make the impossible possible.