To Celebrate the connection between the Thames and the Indian river Ganges, Heritage Bengal Global will be showcasing a display of the Durga Idol from the Lalbaba Rice Thames Durga Parade at Kingston Museum.

A Durga idol is a sculptural representation of the Hindu goddess Durga, a principal deity in Hinduism and a powerful symbol of feminine energy (Shakti) that combats evil and chaos.

The display, which is part of the six-month cultural celebration Kingston 2025, will be on show at the museum from this Saturday (9 August) and will remain there until the end of the month.

 Heritage Bengali Global will also be hosting a celebration at the museum from 12.30pm – 4.30pm on 15 August (Indian Independence Day), which will feature the Durga Idol display and a film, artefacts and paintings by Papia Ghoshal which will be on sale on the day, and an art of Bengal workshop by Mahua Bej.

There will be an event at Kingston Museum on 15 August (Image supplied)

The film will be a screening on the Kolkata durga pujo, showing how the goddess is made from Ganges River clay and sustains the artisan community dependent on riverine cultures

Kingston and Surbiton Green Party member, Dr Debojyoti Das, who is also helping organise the display, said he wanted to include the display in the Kingston 2025 celebrations because there is a "huge" South Asian population living in Kingston and Surbiton.

He added: "The main initiative was to get Kingston Museum as partners in our national heritage project.

"The project was based on this whole idea of doing garba, which the Gujarati diaspora community does every year, and it has been enlisted as an intangible heritage for humankind by the Unesco.  So, we wanted to celebrate that."

Dr Das says that in Kingston, Indian Independence Day "has special significance because it connects with the colonial past and with the rich legacy and history of India's connection with Britain for over 200 years".

He added: "And at the same time there is a huge diasporic community from South Asia living in Kingston and particularly the Bengali community.

"So, we want to celebrate all of this along with the anniversary of the crowning of King Athelstan."

There are two curators involved in the event.

One of them is Doctor Ghosh, the Artistic Director at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, who will be talking about why the order is significant in the context of South Asia and what message it sends to the global audience in terms of harmony, peace, nature conservation, and the Durga idol that will be placed for the first time in a non-Indian context.

The Durga Idol, which is coming from Peterborough, has never been placed in a museum context in the UK.

Dr Das says that the significance of the idol is that "it is made of non-biodegradable materials".

He added: "So, no artificial synthetic colouring or fabric has been used.

"So, it's quite nature-friendly and is sending a message to Thames Water and other institutions that are polluting the Thames River at present. With this, we want to show the connection between the Ganges and the Thames because both these rivers are being polluted. The former is much more polluted."

However, Dr Das says that the broader idea is to symbolise the relationship between Britain and India over the past 200 years and how the diasporic community are celebrating those linkages.

He says that this idea "very much kind of connects with the whole idea of Athelstan's coronation because he was the first king of the whole United Kingdom".

Dr Das added: "We want to kind of unravel India's colonial past with Britain, that history, that legacy, and also celebrate the diversity that we have in our burrow in terms of when we're talking about equality, diversity and inclusion - that becomes very significant.

"And that is what the Kingston Celebration Committee wants to represent in Kingston 2025. They want to showcase the diverse communities who live in Kingston, particularly the Korean community, the Sri Lankan community, the South Asian diaspora, and also other communities who have come to Kingston since the war in Ukraine began.

Heritage Bengal Global along with Namaste Kingston and Sarvodaya Samaj will also be showcasing the Durga Idol at the Kingston River Festival on 6 September. This will be the first time it has been showcased at a festival.

To help fund the bringing of the Durga Idol to the festival, Heritage Bengal Global has created a crowdfunding page.

You can donate to it here.