A lost-and-found sculpture, a Durga Puja theme: Kolkata revives Shanu Lahiri's legacy

Paroma was a monumental public sculpture conceived by Shanu Lahiri and created with other artists. Installed at the Science City intersection in 1987, it became such a familiar landmark that the roundabout was called Paroma Island. On November 24, 2014, it was demolished and removed overnight, leaving only rubble.

The sculpture was not completely lost. Hui Hao Howard Lee found its discarded fibreglass figure in Chowbaga, in the East Kolkata Wetlands area. He paid local boys to secure the pieces and moved them to the Lee family’s former tannery in Tangra. The damaged figure had lost about five feet from its base and could no longer stand.

Bhowanipore Abasar Sarbojanin Durga Puja is now recreating Paroma to celebrate Lahiri’s legacy. The project brings attention to her role as Kolkata’s “First Lady of Public Art” and renews debate about protecting civic artworks that can disappear when cities change.

Public art is artwork created or installed for shared spaces such as streets, intersections, and other parts of a city. Its purpose is not limited to visitors who enter a gallery or museum. It becomes part of public life, visible to commuters, residents, and passers-by during ordinary routines.

Paroma showed this difference clearly. Nearly 31 feet tall, it stood at the Science City intersection from 1987 until its removal in 2014. The sculpture became so familiar that people called the roundabout Paroma Island. It was encountered by commuters without requiring a ticket, a special visit, or knowledge of the art world.

That public role made its disappearance especially important. Lahiri’s work represented an effort to bring art beyond galleries and museums. When Paroma vanished, Kolkata lost not only an object but also a shared landmark. Its recreation for Durga Puja again places the work within community life.

Paroma was a very large installation, standing nearly 31 feet tall. Its scale helped make it a powerful urban landmark rather than a small decorative object. It stood on a platform about 14 feet high, built from brick and mortar, while the surviving figure itself was made of fibreglass.

The sculpture was installed in 1987 and removed on November 24, 2014. That means it remained at the Science City intersection for roughly 27 years. During that time, the location became known as Paroma Island because the work was so familiar to people travelling through Kolkata.

After its removal, Hui Hao Howard Lee found and rescued the surviving structure. He kept it at the Lee family’s former tannery in Tangra, where it lay across the building’s vast floor. Lee did not speak publicly about it for nearly 12 years, so the sculpture stayed out of public view until its survival recently became known.

A subsequent news report attributed Paroma’s removal to the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, or KMDA. The report said the agency allegedly acted on instructions from Firhad Hakim, then a minister in the Trinamool Congress government and later Kolkata’s mayor. The sculpture was demolished and removed overnight on November 24, 2014.

The explanation was that Paroma was being relocated and had broken by mistake. This did not satisfy Kolkata’s artistic community. The sculpture was nearly 31 feet tall, yet by morning only rubble remained. Its sudden disappearance raised questions about how a major civic landmark could be dismantled without public warning.

Soon after, a giant metal globe bearing the Bengali letter associated with the Trinamool Congress government’s Biswa Bangla branding appeared at the intersection. The replacement intensified the contrast between Lahiri’s shared civic artwork and an installation linked to a government. The article does not report that Paroma was officially returned.

Paroma’s recovery began by chance. Yu Jung Yang, Hui Hao Howard Lee’s mother-in-law, visited a Chinese temple in Chowbaga, in the East Kolkata Wetlands area. She noticed what looked like the discarded sculpture and alerted Lee. He hurried there and found the familiar structure lying on the ground, with local boys nearby.

When the boys appeared to claim the discarded pieces, Lee paid them some money to secure the sculpture. He also asked them to look for remaining parts. He arranged a truck and transported the rescued structure to the Lee family’s former tannery in Tangra, where it could be kept out of further danger.

The sculpture had been badly damaged. About five feet had been lost from the base, so the surviving figure could no longer stand upright. Its brick-and-mortar platform had been demolished, but the fibreglass figure survived. Lee laid it across the tannery floor and kept it there for nearly 12 years.

Paroma’s disappearance disrupted Kolkata’s cultural memory. The sculpture had been part of the city’s daily visual experience since 1987, and the intersection itself became known as Paroma Island. When only rubble remained, residents and artists were left asking how a familiar landmark could vanish so suddenly.

The replacement deepened the debate. A giant globe linked to the Trinamool Congress government’s Biswa Bangla branding appeared soon afterward. Artists contrasted that government-associated installation with Paroma, which had been conceived as shared public art. Lee’s private rescue then revealed that the sculpture had survived, though badly damaged and hidden from public view.

Its rediscovery brought Lahiri’s work back into focus and showed that civic memory can persist outside official spaces. The planned Durga Puja recreation gives the public a new way to encounter Paroma. It also renews questions about preserving artworks when political regimes reshape, remove, or forget city landmarks.

Public landmarks are vulnerable when political regimes change because city spaces can be redesigned to express new priorities or identities. Unlike private artworks, public installations occupy land controlled by authorities. A new administration may remove, relocate, or replace them, especially when their meaning does not fit current branding. The article connects Paroma’s loss with Kolkata’s changing political landscape.

Paroma’s removal illustrates the risk. The KMDA reportedly acted on instructions from Firhad Hakim, and the sculpture was replaced by a globe associated with Biswa Bangla branding. The explanation that Paroma broke during relocation did not settle artistic concerns. Its survival in a private tannery showed how official removal can separate a work from public memory.

The article does not name a single preservation authority. A sound responsibility would therefore be shared: public agencies should document and protect civic art, artists and communities should help record its meaning, and citizens should report threatened works. Clear public processes would make removal more accountable.