Abstract
The Dalit–Bahujan visual representation is uniquely constituted through cultural artefacts, symbols and iconography. The pictorial representations of cultural artefacts are meaningful as they signify and symbolise resistance. The new emerging visuality of the marginalised communities is questioning the dominant regimes of visuality. A calendar as the site of visuality is a signification of resistance to the Brahminical culture by the Dalit–Bahujan community. The Calendar art has engaged with a reiteration of anti-caste social icons that has generated a visual effect on the collective memory of the community. This article has traced the shifts that have happened in calendar art with the rise of anti-caste consciousness in North India. The article has methodologically engaged in observing and doing a content analysis of calendars that are gaining popularity among the Dalit–Bahujan community. The article has also presented an in-depth case study of the Samyak Prakashan calendar in North India. Through the study of the calendar’s iconography and symbols, the article reflects on the cultural practices of the Dalit–Bahujan community. The article also looks into the epistemological and historiographical gaps that are bridged through the reiteration of culturally significant dates in the calendar.
Introduction
Calendar art is a printing form that is widely circulated and its iconography represents the vernacular forms of idolisation and values of the community. Calendars are the cultural artefact through which mass culture and everyday life is exhibited. The iconographies of calendar art not only maps the aesthetics of community, but it also outlines how popular visual art like those inscribed within calendars has been a way of reimaging identities (Jain, 2007; Uberoi, 2006). Calendars have a reiterative flow of images and themes, that reflect culture and community ethics. The symbolic meanings of the icons has emancipatory meanings for the Dalit–Bahujan 1 community in particular (Ciotti, 2012; Jaoul, 2006; Tartakov, 2012; Thorat, 2012; Zelliot, 2016). Calendars are one of the significant spaces in which effect and cultural memory is acknowledged and remembered through selected representation icons.
The widespread circulation of calendars have been witnessed particularly with the onset of printing. Printing forms have witnessed a significant impact in history ever since their emergence. This was reflected in the emergence of the Gutenberg printing press. Its emergence had seen some of the revolutionary changes in European history and it had played an important role in the emergence and flourishing of Renaissance philosophy. The emergence of the Renaissance and Reformation, in turn, led to many changes and had cultural repercussions as well. Eisenstein (1979) has considered the history of printing had an integral connection with the history of civilisation. It has allowed us to understand the different literary, political and economic influences and their consequences. The emergence of ‘print-culture’ led to the emergence and flourishing of new ideas, which were then spread through the widespread circulation of books in printed forms. Uberoi (2006) discusses how calendar art emerged in India as a pretext of nationalistic ethos, particularly depicting the works of Raja Ravi Verma. The emergence of print culture created the possibility of mass production of art forms through calendar images.
This article aims to explore Dalit–Bahujan calendars by understanding their art forms and iconography that is inscribed in it. It will try to observe different Dalit–Bahujan calendars that are circulated at cultural sites and look into how the local art form is woven together with anti-caste consciousness. The article will further highlight a study of different iconographies that are inscribed and how such representations have challenged the conventional cannons of representation in calendar art.
Research Methodology
The research has involved observation and content analysis of different calendars that are circulated at different cultural sites. The article has engaged with the symbolism in calendars that has also become a language of resistance. Based on the content analysis of different print calendars, the article has tried to bring out the broader themes around which these print calendars are organised. The themes include depiction of historical facts, extensive engagement with Dalit–Bahujan icons and different art works that are significant to Dalit–Bahujan culture and community. Many of the calendars are exclusively dedicated life-events of social icon B.R. Ambedkar.
Content analysis is the method that is used to explore meanings embedded in calendar art. The method of content analysis is one of the widely used methods in social science research. While previously it was used in quantitative data analysis, it was only later in the 1980s that the method was used in psychology and other social sciences (Krippendroff, 2019, p. 13). The content analysis in this article is qualitative and it is done by engaging with symbols and intents of the calendars. The content of the calendars is also studied through the kinds of days that are marked as celebratory and also the brief snippets that are provided about different cultural events.
The observation method allowed the research to have a systematic record of the kinds of calendars that are circulated at cultural sites. The observation also helped the research to record the culture, attitude and behaviour of the community towards the icons in calendar art. Ostrower (1988) in his discussion on the observation method emphasises its significance as developing a sense of familiarity with the field site. Observation as a method allows the researcher in a social situation to record what has been said and done. My research involved visiting different cultural sites and exploring different types of calendars. Some of these calendars were also part of gift exchanges.
Theoretical Framework
The icons in the calendars can be understood through how the symbols of the icons are contextualised and it bears a cultural significance. Some of these symbols are the usage of peepal (Ficus religiosa) accepted, the symbol of social icons, a five-coloured flag (called Panchsheel), etc. Ricouer, in his discussion on ‘memories and images’, talks about the interconnectedness between the two at the level of language as well as at the level of experience. The phenomenology of memory constitutes of ‘memory image’ (eidetic memory) that connects at epistemological and historiographical levels (Ricouer, 2004, p. 44). The images and symbols of the Dalit–Bahujan cultural events are part of the epistemological shifts as well. The engagement with Navayana Buddhism 2 and its symbols is an epistemological shift of rejecting the Hinduised social order based on caste hierarchy. Zelliot has argued that with the emergence of Navayana Buddhism a ‘new tradition’ began to emerge particularly in Dikshabhumi, Nagpur, Maharashtra and Chaityabhumi in Bombay. 3 In North India the cultural influence was witnessed with Kanshi Ram’s efforts through the Bahujan Samaj Party (Zelliot, 2016, p. 369). The Buddhist cultural practices were further expanded through music, katha pathan (poetic verses) and other popular traditions (Kalyani, 2020). However, the represented icons in calendar-art is not limited to Navayana Buddhism. It also includes icons of B.R. Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, Kanshiram, Birsa Munda and others.
Tartakov (2012), in his work, has significantly brought the ‘visible’ aspects of Dalit art that has failed to fetch representation within mainstream art. Furthermore, if at all there have been ‘representation of Ambedkar it is only to trigger social controversy leading to vandalism and iconoclasm’ (Tartakov, 2012, p. 2). There is hardly any acknowledgement of how the Dalit–Bahujan community have perceived their icons and what meanings iconography convey in their everyday life. Taratkov’s work is unique in that sense as it involves what Dalit formulation of visual art is and it his work that re-centres the Dalit subjective self and experience.
The work on Dalit–Bahujan iconography has remained largely confined to looking at statues, art works and Chaitya art (Ciotti, 2010; Jaoul, 2006; Zelliot, 2012). Calendar art is often relegated as mundane, banal and in-passing. Contrary to this popular belief, Uberoi considered calendar art as a significant interface of that expressed and ‘artistic genius of Indian people’ (Uberoi, 2002, p. 197). She further says: ‘…“calendar-art” (so-called) shares an intimate interface with art history proper. At the same time, calendar art prints have actively worked to create the nation as an “imagined community” of fellow citizens, including some and excluding others in the process.’ (Ibid, p. 197).
Uberoi’s writings have focussed on the nationalistic discourse and how the re-imagination of nation-making happened through calendar art. But in the process of understanding this Uberoi has interestingly discussed the ‘mythic reconciliation’ and ‘visual rhetoric’ that is generated in the process of calendar art. For the Dalit–Bahujan community in North India, the emergence of popular art through Dalit–Bahujan calendars is linked with the anti-caste consciousness and socio-political movement that was led by Kanshi Ram. The ‘visual rhetoric’ of anti-caste sentiments and Bahujan identity was invoked through rejecting those calendars that portrayed Hindu Gods and Goddesses and instead substituting it with Bahujan Nayaks.
Visual culture and the act of seeing and what is seen, also determines the social relationship of who has the authority (Berger, 2008; Mirzoeff, 2011). Mirzoeff, through his concept of ‘countervisuality’, argues how the hegemonic relationship is challenged through claiming the ‘right to look’. He says:
The right to look is, then, the claim to a right to the real. It is the boundary of visuality, the place where such codes of separation encounter a grammar of nonviolence-meaning the refusal to segregate—as a collective form. Confronted with this double need to apprehend and counter a real that does exist but should not, and one that should exists but is as yet becoming, countervisuality has created a variety of realist formats structures around such tensions. (Ibid, p. 477)
Interestingly, Mirzoeff’s claim for ‘right to look’ is not emerging out of individualism or voyeurism but it is a claim for political subjectivity (Ibid, p. 473). The act of creating ‘countervisuality’ is thus an act of questioning those visual regimes that have denied subjectivity to the subalterns. Thus, the Dalit–Bahujan calendar becomes a significant visual practice through which traditional Brahmanical visual practices is questioned. For instance, if one looks into traditional panchang calendars 4 the visuals and symbols in the calendar are derived from Hindu mythology and Vedic knowledge. Some of these popular calendars use references from scriptures like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The calendar provides an encyclopaedic know-how of Hindu art and culture. The images and iconography circulated through such calendars imposes visual authority. The ‘countervisuality’ of subalterns through re-imaging this visual regime is a significant way to question such authority. The practice of ‘countervisuality’ is further discussed in this article by looking into popular art that goes into the making of a Dalit–Bahujan calendar.
Popular Visual Art and Culture
Popular culture is one of the mediums through which the contestation to existing culture is claimed. It is a sociological category through which reinterpretation of identity can be understood. For instance, O’Hanlon, 2002 in her work on Phule has looked into the popular forms that were used by the Kunbi caste to claim Maratha identity. Appadurai has further looked into the significance of ‘public’ culture/popular culture in understanding the new social movement and cultural sociology of India (Appadurai, 2004, p. 267). Joshi (1986) argues that throughout Ambedkar’s writing, cultural revolt is linked to challenging the power of caste. Ambedkar, in his famous work The Buddha and his Dhamma, has talked about the need for a cultural revolution that can happen not only by destroying past cultural tradition but also by placing newer values in its place. He believed that religion can be a way of cultural reinforcement which can, in turn, establish a rational and egalitarian society. Popular culture has enabled ‘critical reflexivity’ by constantly challenging the existing dominant cultural practices. Popular culture creates new spaces in which the cultural meanings are derived through contestation and negotiations. Within Dalit–Bahujan cultural practices, taking up icons of Buddhism as a popular art form is one of the ways in which Brahmanical practices are questioned and challenged.
Appadurai (2004) looks into popular culture as ‘public culture’ through which he draws attention to the everyday life of ordinary people. He argues that towards the 1980s popular cultural expression has looked specifically into practices of specific subcultural groups as the way of their expression. He further argues that these shifting patterns of ‘popular culture’ need an engagement with sociological dimensions like caste, class and identity to understand the newer meanings of culture which is constantly contested and negotiated (Appadurai, 2004, p. 258). Patricia Uberoi argues that the term ‘popular culture is quite a “slippery” concept, but even in this process of slipperiness, it is more enabling than disabling’ (Uberoi, 2006, p. 4). Its importance lies in its dialogic characteristics, where unlike high culture it comes out of a constant contestation between ideology and existing cultural norms. It includes the voices of resistance and constantly looks out for newer spaces. While referring to popular forms like calendar art, popular cinema, fiction, etc., Uberoi argues each of these representations of popular forms is ‘sociologically meaningful’ and one must look into its social practice, performance and consumption pattern to understand the meanings which each of these popular forms carries.
Understanding Dalit–Bahujan Iconography
Iconography is one of the significant cultural prospects through which Dalit–Bahujan culture and history can be unfolded. These art forms are widely circulated in various forms like calendar art or other forms of art practices in the public sphere. The ‘visual imagery carries the equally important function of identification. People use visual imagery to signify group identification and develop group identity’ (Tartakov, 2012, p. 138). Many of the iconographies that are witnessed among Dalits is from their practice of Navayana Buddhism.
Buddhism has an immense contribution to art and architecture in Indian history. The growth of Buddhist art exists in the form of Dharma Dana or Dharma Donation, where Bhikkhus use Buddha images to erect a memorial to depict the life of Buddha. Such depiction of Buddha’s life, religion and morality largely constitute Buddhist art (Ahir, 2004, p. 125). Many such artworks can be seen as Buddhist Viharas (monasteries) and stupas.
The practice of Navayana Buddhism can be traced back to Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism on 14 October 1956. The practice of Navayana Buddhism is different from other religious practices. It has largely reworked the conventional aesthetic and it renounces the existence, practice and worship of any God. Navayana Buddhism is based on the principle of religion based on humanism (Ambedkar, 1987). The conversion led by B.R. Ambedkar was primarily intended towards the elimination of caste discrimination that Dalits have faced historically due to their demeaned position in Hindu scriptural texts. Most of the Dalit–Bahujan iconography occupies prominent public spaces and its representation is significantly different from the representation made in traditional Theravada Buddhist traditions. Tartakov (2012) has argued that most of these icons are placed in prominent public spaces in the open. The images depicted are denied a sense of hideousness. It is more open with a wider possibility of acceptance across different spectra.
Many of these icons in print form circulate at popular cultural sites like Chaitya Bhumi, Nagaloka, Dalit Prerna Sthal, 5 etc., to name a few. Ambedkar in most of these icons is presented as an educated man dressed in a formal suit with a tie. The most popular image that is circulated in Uttar Pradesh, in particular, is one where Ambedkar is seen in a blue suit. These images are inscribed in peepal leaf-shaped paper, which is mostly golden in colour. The peepal leaf within Navayana Buddhism is a symbol of enlightenment. It derives its meaning from the meditation which Tathagata Buddha carried under the peepal tree.
Tartakov (2012) has particularly discussed one such image of Ambedkar at Harsul in Nashik. This image is at Grand Trunk Road that connects the ancient Buddhist site of Aurangabad and Ajanta. The image of Ambedkar is in a standing posture. He is wearing a blue suit, white shirt and a red tie. He has a copy of the Constitution in his hand. In an interaction with the sculptor Ramchandra Bandu Sasamkar, he says that the image was specifically constructed to show the locals the contribution of Ambedkar in penning down the Constitution. This shows that icons are not just isolated cultural artifacts to be revered but they also play an important role in spreading the idea and value of Ambedkar.
Popular Prints and their Symbolic Meanings
Popular prints circulate in different forms like wall art, marriage cards, pamphlets, popular digital messages, etc. The production and circulation of widespread cultural artifacts reveal its popularity in multiple forms and also the multiple ways in which Buddhist art and Ambedkar’s ideas are perceived in the popular imagination. These art forms are widely circulated in the market as well as during occasions marking events of Dalit–Bahujan significance.
The symbolic meaning of these art forms is more than just aesthetics. Alone (2012) has the representation of Dalits in print and other popular forms, within Navayana Buddhism as largely a postcolonial phenomenon that has challenged the Brahminical domination, that has prevailed throughout pre-colonial as well as colonial history. The symbolic aspect of this rejection included changing how Buddha was previously depicted. Within the neo-Buddhist tradition, Buddha had wide-open eyes. Further, images of Ambedkar began to be placed in the public sphere and it was considered as opposition to the other political statures like Gandhi or Congress leaders. The depiction of Ambedkar’s image also had a specific spectacle with his three-piece suit, holding the Constitution and pointing his index finger forward. Alone (2012) has argued that this image was more than just a depiction of Ambedkar. This imagery had gained a symbolic significance in which Ambedkar was conceived as part of ‘cultural assertion’ among Dalits. The other symbols of cultural assertion included the architecture of Diksha Bhumi, Ashoka Pillar, etc. These symbols used and re-used in different popular forms like calendar art, posters, wall art, etc., depicted the acceptance of these symbols within the cultural practice and also unveils the newer worldview that these symbols imagined, which was antithetical to the widespread Hindu social practice.
Tartakov (1990) has discussed how Buddhist imagery is used among the Mahar community. In his discussion on Ambedkar’s photo used in the Dalit Panther movement, he argues that Ambedkar’s photo along with the Bodhisattva image was used. In some of the artwork by P.B. Ramteke, the depiction of Ambedkar has been shown with a compassionate gaze. The imagery around compassion and maitrayee are the central neo-Buddhist imagery and Dalit–Bahujan icons are shown with a similar kind of gaze in their depiction.
Calendar Art
Calendars are an important cultural artifact that depicts the ideology of the community. Uberoi (2006) has defined calendar art as
A generic name for a style of popular print that takes several forms and performs varying functions. The term refers primarily to mass-produced color prints, but in wider sense encompasses a variety of other forms as well … (they are) pictures that are often but not invariably overprinted with calendar date-sheets. (Uberoi, 2006, p. 50)
These calendar are sold or distributed to family, friends and businesses on specific occasions like festivals, new year, etc., as a sign of goodwill. The emergence of these popular prints in the form of calendar art dates back to Raja Ravi Varma, who started mass production of colour prints.
Uberoi (2006), in her discussion on calendar art, has argued that the representation in calendar art in many ways depicts nationalistic ethos. The representation of icons is not isolated fantasy, rather it in many ways depicts what is desirable and how these objects of desirability are being sought. The Dalit–Bahujan calendars depict different aspects that have influenced Dalit–Bahujan lives. The calendars are published by different publishing houses like Samayak Prakashan, Dalit Dastak, etc., as well as by different institutions and NGOs. Some of these calendars are a single page, while many others are the month-wise distribution of pages. The calendar is also in the form of pocket calendars that are often also used as visiting cards.
The Dalit–Bahujan calendars are very systematically arranged. Many of these calendars will have photos of icons whose Jayanti (birthday) falls in that particular month. Besides the photo of these icons, important places that are associated with these icons are placed along with the photo. These calendars do have details mentioned about them and other significant Dalit–Bahujan events somewhere in the corner. This is worth mentioning as in many other calendars depicting gods such details of Dalit-Bahujan events are absent. This reflects that a set of knowledge is aimed to be passed through these calendars and not just dates and events. Many of the calendars that the research came across had an in-depth chronology of events and information. The prices of the calendars sold by different publishers varied from ₹30–150, while many other calendars were also distributed free of cost. Symbols were important components of these calendars and the different types of symbols used were Diksha-Bhumi (Dhammachakrapanivartan), peepal leaves (Enlightenment), the Ashoka Pillar (national icon), etc. The types of calendar art among Dalit–Bahujan used are largely in the forms of postcard calendars, wall calendars, table calendars, one-page calendars, etc. The glossary at the end will give samples of each of these types of calendars.
Many other calendars are in the form of card prints or smaller calendars attached at the end of magazines or other stationary materials. More of such types of calendars can be seen in Appendix A. The calendars, even though differently organised in different forms of print materials, have the larger theme of similar iconography. However, what is important to mention here is that these calendar arts are ubiquitous which very well explains their significance and role in the cultural assertion. This cultural assertion is witnessed in terms of icons and images used in the calendar forms. It also creates solidarity among the Dalit–Bahujan by raising anti-caste consciousness and awareness.
Icons in Calendar Art
Different publication houses and organisations have different kinds of calendar art. This difference is largely in terms of organising the images, detailing the Dalit–Bahujan significant dates, the kinds of colours used, etc. The calendar art is used as wall art and it occupies a central position within a household space. Visual art has a unique position in society as it reflects upon society’s cultural practices and political beliefs. Kajri Jain has argued that ‘Bazaar art’ or ‘calendar art’ has a close relationship with vernacular tradition. The ‘bazaar’ art constitutes the ‘countercanon’ that constitutes the potential site of protest for the marginalised (Jain, 2007, p. 17). It creates a space of ‘alternative modernity’ that exhibits its unique aesthetics and cultural meanings.
In the age of mass production of images, the images and iconography in calendar art are more than just representational. Jain, through her conceptual category of ‘postcolonial granularity’, has argued the images circulated in popular culture reflect upon its ‘value, efficacy, and power (Ibid, p. 20). The images used in a Dalit–Bahujan calendar are not only about its representation of a certain moment from history or an aesthetic sensibility. It also depicts the community’s values and different subcultures. For instance, in some of the calendars, the image is followed with important quotations. This shows that while the image per se is important it is also important to raise awareness about the context of such an image.
Many of the Dalit–Bahujan calendars show the paintings of Dalit–Bahujan artists, different life events of Ambedkar, etc. The structure of the Dalit–Bahujan calendar is qualitatively different from the conventional religious wall calendar. This difference is in terms of the content of the calendar, like in a Dalit–Bahujan calendar the usual astrological and religious explanations are absent. Many a time it is replaced with the historical chronology of anti-caste history and struggle. It is important to mention that this re-structuring of the calendar is culturally significant as it makes historically significant dates become part of the collective memory of the masses. The remembrance of dates is done in such calendar art.
Symbolic Changes: Usage of Specific Imagery
Images are an important part of popular print beyond its content. The imagery used in popular prints is largely drawn from cultural sources. Within visual arts, imagery has a specific significance. It appeals to people in more than one way. Brueck (2016) has argued that Dalit mobilisation has engaged with different cultural symbols in both celebratory as well as critical manners. Discussing some of these symbols from Dalit literature, Brueck has argued that the re-construction of these symbols is constitutive of the public reflexive process, through which these images are constructed and re-constructed.
In Dalit–Bahujan culture, the imagery includes symbols of Boddhisattva. 6 These Boddhisattva images are depicted as peepal leaves, hand gestures, images of the stupa, Buddha images, Ambedkar images in Boddhisattva, etc. The other popular images used in popular prints include images of Panchsheel and Raidas, written words like Deeph Atha Bhava, Pragya Karuna Sheel, constitution images, the image of a book, etc. The images have a sense of history that is attached to them. The usage of Panchsheel means the five principles on which Boddhisattva stands.
The symbolism in Dalit–Bahujan calendar art is also a revivalism of culture by re-looking and countering Brahmanical mythical interpretation and juxtaposing its historical facts (Chakravarti, 2021). Ambedkar through his conceptual framework of ‘revolution and counter-revolution’ had discussed Brahminical appropriation of Dalit–Bahujan history and cultural artefacts. Ambedkar considered Buddhism as a revolution. He said,
Buddhism was a revolution. It was as great a Revolution as the French Revolution. Though it began as a religious revolution, it became more than religious revolution. It became a Social and Political Revolution. To be able to realise how profound was the character of this Revolution, it is necessary to know the state of the society before the revolution began its course. To use the language of the French Revolution, it is necessary to have a picture of the ancient regime in India. (Ambedkar, 1987, p. 153).
Babasaheb’s writings on Buddhism have extensively drawn from the history of ancient India. His extensive critical study of scriptural texts and historical processes has laid the ground for the re-imagination of history-making itself. Dr Ambedkar in fact said, ‘Much of the ancient history of India is no history at all. Not that ancient India has no history. It has plenty of it. But it has lost its character. It has been made into mythology to amuse women and children’ (Ambedkar, 1987, p. 151).
Clearly what Ambedkar was hinting at the mythical interpretation of historical facts that was aimed to eradicate Dalit–Bahujan history. In this regard calendars have been a significant cultural source for the revivalism of history by re-memorising history and cultural assets of the Dalit–Bahujan community. The cultural signifiers like colours, symbols, etc., are some of the important techniques that are used to inscribe contested histories within popular culture.
Publication Houses and Their Calendars
The Dalit–Bahujan popular prints are the effective medium to exhibit their culture in the form of printing their oral traditions, the untold history, their beliefs and practices, etc. The popular prints produced are widely circulated at different significant occasions like Babasaheb Jayanti (14 April), Manaywar Kanshiram’s birthday/Jayanti (15 March), Samvidhan Divas/Constitution Day (26 November), Manusmriti Dahan Diwas/burning of a copy of the Manusmriti (25 December), etc. Such popular prints are published by several publishing houses, many of which are home-grown publications as well. These publication houses are shown in Table 1.
Different Publication Houses Printing Dalit–Bahujan Calendars Particularly in Hindi.
It is also important to mention that many of these publications also print books as well as calendars. The calendars by each of these publication houses includes their publication titles. The different kinds of calendars that are printed are:
Pocket Calendars. These calendars are pocket sized and have a pictorial depiction on one side, while the other side has dates. Wall Calendars. They are larger in dimension and are more elaborate in terms of dates and cultural events. Table Calendars. These Calendars are used as show-pieces and are often part of Dalit–Bahujan living rooms or work spaces. Digital Calendars. Many of the digital calendars are circulated through digital media platform as part of New Year Greetings as well as to express community solidarity.
It is significant to note that these calendars reveals unique facts and history of Dalit–Bahujan community. Such snippets on history are drawn from the popular writings as well as oral traditions. The circulation of these ideas through calendars can be seen as a source of resistance against ‘symbolic domination and historical knowledge’ (Schwartz, 1997, p. 177). They can be understood as epistemological shifts that one witnesses in dominant mainstream knowledge production. Schwartz (1997) has argued that a study of these popular historical texts gives an insight into ‘untouchable[s]’ having been denied a position within the historical process and having been relegated to a position of being ‘ahistorical’. He has further argued that the Hindu scriptures have largely worked on the dichotomy of ‘Dharma’ and ‘Adharma’, where the ‘untouchable[s]’ have been perpetually placed in a debased position. While calendars cannot be clubbed as ‘popular texts’ as Schwartz mentions, the source and knowledge of the different dates and snippets on these dates are largely drawn from these texts. Hence one can see a continuum between popular writings and contents produced in the Dalit–Bahujan calendars.
The Case of the Dalit–Bahujan Calendar by Samyak Prakashan
The Samyak publication house has been a dedicated publication house for the production of Dalit–Bahujan history and culture in North India. It was started by Shanti Swaroop Baudh and the publication house got international acclamation and appreciation. It was thrice awarded for best stall at the International Book Fair (Singh, 2020). Shanti Swaroop Baudh took up the initiative to launch more than 300 authors who worked on cultural revival through his publication house (Ibid, p. 8). His initiative to launch a calendar was to ‘encourage Dalit–Bahujan families, who are working towards Mission’ (Dharmakirti, n.d.). As a social entrepreneur, he started selling booklets on from 1982 onwards. It was in February 2006, that he had started full-fledged printing business at Samata Budh Vihar (Bhaskar, 2020).
The calendars at Samyak Prakashan first began in 2006 marking the golden jubilee of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism (Dharmakirti, n.d.). The calendar series was named Jai Bhim Calendar. Dr Dharmakirti claims it as a first attempt in North India to come up with a commercial calendar. The intention behind the calendar was to create an encyclopaedic knowledge of Dalit–Bahujan history and culture. In my conversation with Kapil Swaroop Baudh, present director of Samyak Prakashan, he said that Shanti Swaroop Baudh wanted that through the calendar the reiteration of culturally significant events were to be kept fresh in the minds of Dalit–Bahujan community. The launch of the calendar was also to give space to the popular magazines and booklets for their promotion(Ibid, Chapter 24). This promotion was done as a contribution to community support and no fees were charged. The price of this calendar presently ranges from ₹50–₹60. The pages used in the calendar are glossy and the print is done on both the sides. The icons used in the calendar are drawn from the Dalit–Bahujan cultural movement. Every month a new icon is celebrated and is pinned as the cover icon. The image of the icon is followed with a popular quotation from them (often the quotation picked up best summarises their contribution).
The 2021 Jai Bhim Calendar began with Tathagata Buddha’s sitting image. In the image Buddha is surrounded by different stupas and chaityas that are site of reverence for Dalit–Bahujan community. At the corner of the image the Panchsheel flag is depicted. The Calendar begins with the title, ‘Aao! Apani Gauravshali Virasat ko Pahchaien’ (Come! Let us remember our history with pride). The calendar has also begun mentioning about different Dalit–Bahujan intellectuals who have given their contribution towards Dalit–Bahujan knowledge productions. It is also significant to mention that the calendar does a re-reading of Brahminical mythical dates with the histories of the Dalit–Bahujan community. For example, instead of mentioning Diwali, the date is mentioned as Deep Daan Utsav. Deep Daan Utstav is celebrated among neo-Buddhists on the day of Karthik Amavasya according to the Hindi calendar. It is the same day that is also celebrated as Diwali. While this time is celebrated across India as the festival of lights, the history of this celebration is marked with contestations of history and myths. The significance of light or deep has different meanings and history for Dalit–Bahujan. The ‘practices’ surrounding the festival of light might seem pan-Indian, but there are multiple historical vantages through which this festival unfolds. The neo-Buddhist claim that this day is marked by an event that was the day of celebration marking the completion of 84,000 Buddhist Stupas by King Ashoka (Strong, 2016, p. 109). The celebration of Deep Daan is thus a revivalism of Ashoka’s history. A similar instance of revivalism is also seen through mentions like Ashoka Vijayadashami, which is a counter-version of Dussehra that is celebrated as a Brahminical festival (Kalyani, 2021).
The other key feature of the Jai Bhim Calendar is the blue-coloured 7 nameplate that is uniformly placed at the top of the Calendar. The nameplate includes figures of Tathagata Buddha, King Ashoka, Guru Raidas, Kabir, Jyoti Rao Phule, Savitri Bai Phule, Shahuji Maharaj and Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The calendar did not contain any advertorial; however, a blank space was left towards the bottom of the calendar in case someone was interested in promotion. The style of the calendar in terms of icon representation changed every year, however the theme remained mostly constant.
Later Samyak Prakashan started the series of Dr Ambedkar Calendar. Unlike the Jai Bhim Calendar, this calendar was more illustrative and less on details. The Dr Ambedkar Calendar series included paintings of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Many of these paintings were done by Shanti Swaroop Baudh himself. During my interaction with Kapil Swaroop Baudh he said that besides Shanti’s painting Samyak had hired some 80 artist to further refine and work on paintings. The Dr Ambedkar Calendar series were priced higher and it ranged around ₹200. The paper quality of this series was thicker and the painting added to the aesthetics of icon. The cover of the calendar began with the Dhamma wheel and the colours of the Panchsheel flag were inscribed into the name of Dr Ambedkar. Ambedkar is mentioned as ‘Boddhisattva Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar’ and the sobriquet added is ‘Salute to my Messiah. Father of the Indian Constitution’. The paintings in this series reflected on several themes of Ambedkar’s life like Dr Ambedkar’s presenting the final draft of the Indian Constitution to Dr Rajendra Prasad on 25 November 1949, Dr Ambedkar reading his newspaper Janta, the 1952 image of Dr Ambedkar on his way to Columbia University to pick up his honorary degree, 8 etc. The paintings also gave the scope to portray a larger-than-life image of Dr Ambedkar. For example, in one of the images, the fist of Ambedkar is enlarged as compared to his body. The symbolism of this is to reflect his courage and deterministic approach towards social justice. Similarly there are other images shown of him with a roaring tiger and his image with Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Overall the case study of Samyak Calendar art reflected the different ways in which art images are re-worked within popular imagination. It is significant to note how cultural revival is happening through calendar art. The calendar is a site of putting together history and culture together in a manner that freshens the public memory through a continuous reiteration of days and events. Culture and cultural artefacts are an important site for cultural re-imagination (Omvedt, 2011; Rege, 2002). Omvedt (2011), in her discussion on cultural revolt by peasants in Satara, has discussed the role of Tamasha in bringing revolution and how along with the Satyashodhak leaders peasants organised a struggle to question the Brahmin-dominated festival. The ‘cultural interest of non-Brahmanism’ generated the possibility of lower classes to rebel in Satara’ (Omvedt, 2011, p. 222). Omvedt reads the act of rebel through Tamasha as an act of questing Brahmanical cultural hegemony and creating a ‘non-Brahminical unity within the district’ (Ibid, p. 222). Omvedt’s reflection on the significance of cultural parameters is important to understand how at the roots of cultural contestation for Dalit communities is a rejection of Brahmanical art and cultural practices. The calendars are also a significant cultural symbol through which rejection of Brahminical art forms have been witnessed among the Dalit–Bahujan community.
Conclusion
The research has thus tried to unfold the cultural practices of the Dalit–Bahujan community through an in-depth study of calendar art. Calendar art is an integral part of public memory and it reveals how the spatiality of ‘publics’ is re-defined and re-interpreted. Nancy Fraser (1990) has coined the term ‘subaltern counterpublics’ as a response that is generated to the exclusion and conflicts prevailing in the dominant ‘publics’. The ‘subaltern counterpublics’ are the parallel discursive arenas where the members of subordinated social groups invent and circulate ‘counterdiscourses’ (Fraser, 1990, p. 67). The emergence of ‘counterpublics’ reflects a new form of social reality. For the Dalit–Bahujan community, ‘counterpublics’ is a space through which they seek integrity and social justice that was denied to them within a Hindu social order.
The article has broadly looked into two aspects of calendar art. First, what was the intention of the printer and publisher? Second, the study has tried to understand what meanings it actually conveys to the masses. A calendar as a cultural artefact reflects the rejection of Brahminical calendar art like the Thakur Prasad Panchang Calendar or the Kalnirnay Calendar that is overtly based on Hindu myths and culture. The shift towards the Jai Bhim Calendar or Bahujan Calendar is a microcosm of the larger anti-caste consciousness that is getting engrained through culture and everyday practices.
Appendix A
Some of the sample calendars are as follows:
Samyak Prakashan Calendar series:
