The Kalighat Kali Temple on the Hoogly, Calcutta

ABRAM LOUIS BUVELOT
Morges, Switzerland 1814-1888 Melbourne, Australia

The Kalighat Kali Temple on the Hoogly, Calcutta

Signed lower left: Ls Buvelot. 1855.
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic
245 x 310 mm., 9 ½ x 12 in.

Buvelot travelled to Calcutta in December 1854 with the Austrian artist Ferdinand Krumholz hoping to establish a studio of photography and painting. The venture failed however and Buvelot returned to Switzerland in the summer of 1855. In 1840 he had left Lausanne for Brazil where he spent the best part of fifteen years. He returned to Brazil in the 1860s and died in Australia.

The Hindu temple of Kalighat Kali stands on the banks of the Hoogly river in Calcutta and is dedicated to the goddess Maa Kali. It was originally a small hut until the present temple was erected in 1809.