Soapstone carving is a remarkable craft whose origins stretch back to some of the earliest civilizations in India. Today, this artistic tradition continues among communities whose heritage and skills have been passed down for many generations.

Historical Roots

Soapstone, a metamorphic rock primarily composed of talc, has been used in the Indian subcontinent since the days of the Indus-Saraswati Civilization and the Chalcolithic period. Its historical significance is evident in ancient sites where artifacts such as seals, beads, statues, and small figurines have been found. Key archaeological discoveries, like steatite ringstones from the Shunga-Maurya period and sculptures from the Gupta era, illustrate soapstone’s profound role throughout history. The artistry of temple construction, as seen in Khajuraho, Jabalpur, and Udaipur, is just one facet of the stone’s legacy, with temple artisans employing techniques and tools that are still in use by contemporary soapstone carvers.

Community and Continuity

Carving skills within artisan communities—particularly the Silawat and Vishwakarma—are shared orally and inherited over generations, often spanning four to five generations. Despite the richness of these traditions, written documentation remains scattered and incomplete, making oral testimonies vital in preserving the craft’s continuity. Migration patterns have also contributed to the dispersion and evolution of carving techniques among artisans.

Diversity of Soapstone Craft

The types of sculptures crafted by soapstone artisans are diverse, shaped by regional demands and socio-economic conditions. These range from modern decorative pieces to ritualistic art:

– In Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), artisans produce devotional and decorative items such as cookware, toys, and showpieces, with motifs including Shivlings, demigods, elephants, and birds. Soapstone for these works is typically sourced from mines near Bhedaghat.

– The Jhabua-Alirajpur region is known for traditional Gaata sculptures crafted in a relief style, often created in memory of deceased males and worshipped with offerings. Local mines, as well as sources in Gujarat and Rajasthan, supply the necessary soapstone.

– Udaipur’s artisans have adapted to high tourist demand, blending traditional motifs with contemporary designs. Lord Ganesh idols, abstract human figures, and various souvenirs showcase the community’s ability to innovate while maintaining cultural resonance.

Methods and Techniques

Soapstone carving is a collaborative and systematic process :

– Artisans begin with the selection and cutting of raw soapstone using cutters.

– Shaping is performed with hammers and chisels to form the sculpture’s basic structure.

– Fine chisels refine features, while detailing is achieved with pointed tools for intricate patterns.

– Female artisans often smoothen the finished sculptures using sandpaper and water, ensuring a flawless texture.

– Final touches, such as polishing and coloring, are applied with waterproof primers, oil-based substances, or spray paints for gloss and durability.

Cultural Significance and Challenges

The living heritage of soapstone carving continues to hold deep cultural value, maintaining links between the artisans of central and western India since the Bronze Age. Knowledge is primarily transmitted orally, but today faces threats from the rise of mechanization and waning interest among younger generations. Seasonal changes in tourism and market access impact sales, though affordable raw material provides some relief.

The Way Forward

There is an urgent need to recognize, support, and safeguard soapstone artisans to preserve this craft for future generations. Without such efforts, a vital aspect of India’s creative and spiritual history risks fading away. By understanding and promoting the work of these artisans, society can ensure the survival of this unique and profound tradition.

The archaeological site at Sinauli in Uttar Pradesh has provided significant insight into ancient burial practices, gender identities, and social hierarchy in South Asia. The evidence uncovered at Sinauli challenges long-held assumptions and offers fresh perspectives on mortality, gender roles, and elite status in ancient Indian society.

Location and Historical Context

Sinauli is situated in the Baghpat district of western Uttar Pradesh, lying within the fertile Upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab region. It is associated with the Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) culture, which dates back to the early second millennium BCE. This site gained attention due to its unique burial practices, especially those involving women and the material assemblages found with their graves.

Overview of Excavations

The Sinauli excavations were initiated in 2005 under archaeologist D.V. Sharma, and further work was conducted in 2018 by Dr. Sanjay Manjul. In 2005, archaeologists uncovered 116 burials, typically oriented north-south, along with ochre-colored pottery. The 2018 excavations revealed even greater complexity, including wooden coffins adorned with copper sheets, rectangular boxes, antenna swords, helmets, shields, pots, and controversial wheeled vehicles—leading to a debate over whether these were chariots or carts.

Types of Burials

Sinauli yielded four primary burial types:
– Symbolic burials without skeletons.
– Primary burials with full skeletons.
– Secondary or fragmented burials.
– Multiple burials containing fragmented remains.

Gender Distinctions in Burial Practices

A significant contribution of Sinauli is its challenge to conventional views on gender and mortuary archaeology. Certain burials, notably those identified by Asko Parpola, show that elite women were sometimes interred in richly decorated coffins with martial symbols such as swords, shields, and wheeled vehicles. Coffins for women featured steatite inlay and were often covered, in contrast to men’s coffins, which generally had copper sheathing and were left uncovered. Such differentiation suggests elaborate symbolism surrounding gender and possibly ritual seclusion or heightened sacredness for women in death.

One highly debated aspect is the absence of feet in Burial-1, which might suggest less earthly mobility or represent a transformation from earthly to transcendent status.

Rethinking Weaponry and Gender

The presence of weapons, such as copper antenna swords and shields, in women’s graves at Sinauli has prompted scholars to reconsider rigid notions of gender roles. These martial objects could signal the dead’s authority—either as warriors or ritual leaders—thus broadening our understanding of gender within ancient funerary contexts. Interestingly, such elaborate martial symbolism is less prevalent in the male burials at Sinauli.

Symbolism of Coffins and Elite Status

Coffins at Sinauli, rare in South Asian archaeology, were more than mere containers; they symbolically transformed the deceased into sacred beings. Their intricate decoration reflects considerable labor, resources, and craftsmanship, indicating elite status and the possibility of gendered authority within the social hierarchy.

Conclusions and Implications

The burial evidence from Sinauli emphasizes material distinctions that reveal social stratification, hierarchy, and constructed gender roles. While the idea of women warriors remains debated, the presence of martial symbols with elite women points towards complex rituals and conceptions of social power in death. Sinauli thus stands out as a crucial site for rethinking gender identities, social class, and the symbolic aspects of funerary practices in ancient India.

On Sunday, October 26, 2025, the organization Indian History Awareness and Research (IHAR) embarked on its inaugural heritage walk, titled “Rediscovering Sutanuti.”
Dedicated to the study, research, preservation, and public awareness of Indian history, IHAR has long aimed to connect people with the layers of India’s historical and cultural legacy. This heritage walk marked a significant step in that direction.

Why Sutanuti?

The choice of Sutanuti as the focus of IHAR’s first heritage walk was profoundly symbolic.
It was here, on August 24, 1690, that Job Charnock, an officer of the East India Company, is believed to have landed—a moment that would reshape the destiny of Bengal and, indeed, the entire Indian subcontinent.
Although the Company had visited Sutanuti earlier, it was this arrival that initiated a chain of events culminating in nearly two centuries of colonial rule, lasting until August 14, 1947.

On November 10, 1698, the East India Company entered into an agreement with the Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family, acquiring the zamindari (lease rights) of three villages—Kalikata, Govindpur, and Sutanuti—for an annual rent of ₹1300.
This agreement laid the foundation for the rise of Calcutta, though Charnock himself never witnessed it, having passed away in 1693.

Over 335 years later, the Sutanuti of 1690 and that of 2025 appear worlds apart.
Historians still debate the precise locations of Sutanuti Ghat, where Charnock’s ship is believed to have anchored, and Sutanuti Haat, the bustling market once held twice a week for the sale of cotton yarns and threads.
It was this very market that enriched the Seths and Basaks, the early inhabitants of Calcutta, through the textile trade.

Though no physical trace of that port or market survives today, scholars generally agree that Sobhabazar corresponds to the original Sutanuti region.
Accordingly, IHAR chose this locality for its first heritage walk—a symbolic return to the city’s historical roots.

The legacy of Sutanuti lives on in names like Haatkhola (“the open market”), a term derived from the old marketplace and still preserved in local designations such as Haatkhola Post Office.
Similarly, through the efforts of Sutanuti Parishad, the Sobhabazar Metro Station was officially renamed “Sobhabazar Sutanuti.”
Even in the absence of the old market, these surviving names echo the deep emotional and cultural resonance Sutanuti continues to hold for the people of Calcutta and Bengal.

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Highlights of the Walk

The heritage walk took participants on a journey through Sutanuti’s remaining landmarks and forgotten corners, each revealing a fragment of Calcutta’s layered past.

B. K. Pal’s House

The first stop was the residence of B. K. Pal, the pioneering Bengali manufacturer and seller of medicines in the 19th century.
His most celebrated creation, Edward Tonic (1887), became a household remedy for fevers and stomach ailments—common and often fatal in colonial Calcutta—earning him a lasting place in Bengal’s medical history.

Shwet Kali Temple

Participants then visited the Shwet Kali Temple on Sobhabazar Street, nearly 300 years old and among the three oldest white Kali temples in Bengal.
Originally a shrine for dacoits, it later became a site of domestic worship. The deity here is distinctive—white in color, two-armed, tongue inside the mouth, and standing over Virupaksha and Kalbhairav, without the usual garland of severed heads.

Raja Janakinath Ray’s Mansion

The walk next stopped at the grand mansion of Raja Janakinath Ray of the Bhagyakul Ray family, prosperous traders from Dhaka and Calcutta.
Built in the 19th century, a part of this palatial building now serves as the Jorabagan Traffic Guard office, while descendants of the Ray family still occupy another section.

Chitpur Road (Rabindra Sarani)

Participants then walked along Chitpur Road, now Rabindra Sarani, regarded as Calcutta’s oldest road, dating back nearly 500 years.
Originally extending from Chitpur to Kalighat and later to Halisahar, the path once cut through dense forests inhabited by wild animals and robbers—an incredible contrast to today’s bustling thoroughfare.

Rameshwar Shiva Temple

Next came the Rameshwar Shiva Temple, built around 1700 by Nandaram Sen, the first native tax collector under the British official Mr. Sheldon.
Standing 80 feet tall, the temple mirrors the Aatchala style of the Kalighat Kali Temple and houses a six-foot-high Shivalinga.

Kumartuli and the Artisans

The walk then entered Kumartuli, where artisans were crafting Jagaddhatri idols.
Participants met Amit Ranjan Karmakar, a rare collector and restorer of vintage radios, tape recorders, and gramophones—all maintained in working order.

Radhagobinda and Baneshwar Shiva Temples

The Radhagobinda Temple and the Aatchala Baneshwar Shiva Temple, built by Bonomali Sarkar, another British-era official, were the next stops.
While the Radhagobinda Temple remains in fair condition, the Baneshwar Shiva Temple lies in neglect, its once-fine terracotta work fading amid weeds.

Kaviraj Gangaprasad Sen’s House

The group then visited the home of Kaviraj Gangaprasad Sen, the eminent 19th-century Ayurvedic physician who migrated from Bikrampur (Dhaka) in 1840.
Revered for his skill, he once treated Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and famously predicted that the saint’s illness was incurable—a prophecy now part of Bengal’s spiritual lore.

Dhakeshwari Temple

The Dhakeshwari Temple in Kumartuli houses a 800–1000-year-old ashtadhatu idol, originally enshrined in Dhaka by King Ballal Sen.
After Partition, the idol was smuggled to Calcutta in 1948 and relocated to its present temple in 1950, where it continues to be worshipped.

Madanmohan Temple

The majestic Madanmohan Temple, established in 1761 by Gokul Chandra Mitra, came next.
Once spread across 56 bighas, the temple houses a black stone deity associated with a legend involving King Chaitanya Singh of Mallabhum.
Its Raas and Annakut festivals are still celebrated annually.

Siddheshwari Mata Temple and the Black Pagoda

The final stop was the Siddheshwari Mata Temple in Baghbazar, believed to be over 500 years old.
Founded by a monk named Kalibor, it later came under the worship of the Chakraborty family and their descendants.
The goddess, affectionately known as “The Ginni Maa of Baghbazar,” was revered even by Girish Ghosh and Sri Ramakrishna, the latter once offering tender coconuts for the recovery of Keshab Chandra Sen.

Across the street stands the Black Pagoda, constructed between 1725 and 1730 by Govinda Ram Mitra, the second native revenue collector after Nandaram Sen.
Standing originally over 165 feet tall, it once surpassed even the Ochterlony Monument (Sahid Minar) in height before being partially destroyed in the cyclone of 1737.
Its surviving fragments still whisper tales of Sutanuti’s lost grandeur.

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A Journey Through Memory

Thus concluded IHAR’s first heritage walk—a journey through the forgotten heart of Sutanuti, where every lane, temple, and crumbling mansion still bears the faint echo of Calcutta’s beginnings.
Though time has erased much of the physical landscape, the spirit of Sutanuti endures—in its names, in its memories, and in the hearts of those determined to rediscover it.