Kumortuli Kolkata West Bengal India

Kumortuli is a craftspeople neighborhood in Kolkata, known for making clay artworks and deity statues. The area consists of narrow, tightly built streets and lanes where dozens of workshops sit close together, creating a busy hub of creative work.

Kumortuli developed as a settlement where potters practiced and passed down traditional clay-crafting methods. The neighborhood remained an important center for this art form over the centuries and continues to carry on Kolkata's craft heritage today.

Kumortuli is a neighborhood where potters and craftspeople have made clay figures for generations, especially the famous Durga statues for the autumn festival. Walking through the narrow lanes, you see workshops open to the street where artisans shape, paint, and prepare their creations.

The neighborhood is best explored on foot since the lanes are narrow and winding; you can look directly into workshops and chat with the artisans. The best time to visit is during festival preparations when activity peaks and workshops are at their busiest.

Most workshops are tucked inside private courtyards and back rooms that are not obvious to visitors, giving the neighborhood a hidden, undiscovered feel. If you take time to ask locals, you can find forgotten artist spaces that hardly anyone else knows about.