Our exhibition, Durga Puja at Shobhabazar Rajbari: A Tryst with History and Heritage, organized in collaboration with Rritobak, entailed the centuries-old history of celebrating Durga Puja at the Shobhabazar Rajbari, which had been represented through illustrations made by Shri Prabir Krishna Deb, a descendant of Nabakrishna Deb. We had even made an animated video using some of the illustrations in order to depict and bring to life the luminous history of the Rajbari. The illustrated narrative recounted Nabakrishna Deb’s association with Robert Clive that began when the former suggested that the latter seek blessings from the deity for his triumph over Sirāj al-Dawlahat in the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The ensuing ceremonious puja of Durga at Shobhabazar Rajbari, as illustrated by Shri Prabir Krishna Deb, is the precursor of the famed Durga Puja of Kolkata as we know it today, some 250 years later. It marked the beginning of Durga Puja being held by independent aristocratic families in Kolkata, erstwhile known as Calcutta, that eventually evolved into the present-day public celebration. The exhibition aimed to locate the gradual transition of the celebration from being an index of aristocratic status to its democratization and thereby understanding the initiation of an undying cultural valve that has become a defining aspect of the Bengali identity.