Abstract
This paper addresses the humour present in the Kalighat paintings of the nineteenth century and argues that it was not merely a form of entertainment and mockery, but was a sophisticated weapon of aesthetic and social critique. Exploring the emerging city of Calcutta, a place transforming rapidly into a colonial state, the visual language of the iconic Kalighat paintings evolved from the earlier Pattachitra tradition, into a distinctive language that responded to changing urban realities, including colonial modernity, shifting social hierarchies, religious hypocrisy and cultural mimicry. Rather than categorising these paintings solely as devotional or folk art, this paper interprets them as carefully constructed visual commentaries on the contradictions of colonial Bengal society. To explain this approach, the study analyses nineteenth century Kalighat paintings through two theoretical lenses, bringing together the Indian aesthetic concept of Hasya Rasa from Bharata Muni’s Nātyaśāstra and the western tradition of Horatian Satire. The Indian classical theory of Rasa talks about the Hasya Rasa ( the comic sentiment) which provides an indigenous understanding of comic experience through concepts such as Vibhava, Anubhava, and distinction between Śṛṅgāra Hasya and Vyaṅgya Hasya. On the other hand, Horatian Satire offers a complementary framework for understanding humour as a gentle yet corrective form of social criticism. Together, these perspectives reveal both the aesthetic mechanisms through which comic sentiment is generated and the broader social function that such laughter performs.
Through visual analysis of selected Kalighat paintings- including Shiva’s Family on an outing, Cat with a prawn, English babu holding a hookah, woman beating a man with a broom and Victim of a chamber- this paper demonstrates how Kalighat artists strategically employed different modes of Hasya to achieve a distinctly Horatian satirical effect.
The paper proposes an new interpretative framework by placing the Hasya rasa and Horatian satire in dialogue , one that highlights Kalighat paintings as a culturally rooted yet universally intelligible text.