Satir Dehatyag

Shiva Tandava poster for sale: Satir Dehatyag (1954).

Featured here is an old Bengali movie poster of the 1954 black and white Hindu devotional film directed by Manu Sen that starred Dipti Roy in the titular role of Goddess Sati. Raja Mukhopadhyay played the role of Lord Shiva, while Kamal Mitra played the role of Goddess Sati’s father, King Daksha.

Produced by Shyamali Chitra Pratisthan, Satir Dehatyag (1954) also starred Anjali Ray, Santosh Singha, Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Balai Mukhopadhyay, Subhen Mukhopadhyay, Dilip Roy, Namita Chattopadhyay, Joynarayan Mukhopadhyay, Bechu Singha, Nani Majumdar, Purnima Devi, Menoka Devi, Hrishi Bandyopadhyay and Jiban Gangopadhyay in supporting roles.

Written by Birendra Krishna Bhadra, Satir Dehatyag (1954) told the story of Goddess Sati, her marriage to Lord Shiva and her self-immolation at a ceremonial fire during a ritual organized by her father, King Daksha.

The human incarnation of Goddess Yogmaya, Goddess Sati was a devout worshipper of Lord Shiva. Her father King Daksha despised Lord Shiva for his ascetic lifestyle and arranged a grand Swayamvar ceremony for Goddess Sati to choose her husband from among renowned kings and rulers. However, Sati chose Shiva as her husband enraging King Daksha who not only disowned his daughter but also banned Shiva worship in his kingdom.

One day when Daksha is carrying out a grand ritual in his kingdom, everyone is invited except Shiva and Sati. However, Sati attends the event uninvited and is humiliated by Daksha who insults Shiva. Shattered and unable to endure her husband’s humiliation, Sati sacrifices herself in the ceremonial fire, an event known as “Satir Dehatyag,” which translates to “Sati Sacrificing Her Bodily Form.”

Printed and circulated during the actual theatrical run of the film in Kolkata theaters (somewhere in the 1960s), this Satir Dehatyag poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This Shiva Tandava poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a movie poster art studio in Kolkata and features striking artwork.

A full length hand drawn illustration of Lord Shiva performing the violent cosmic dance of destruction (Rudra Tandava) is seen dominating this old Bengali film poster. He is seen carrying Goddess Sati’s partially burned body in immense grief and rage. The vigorous dance is depicted pushing the universe to the brink of annihilation, illustrated in violent flames of fire in the background. Cosmic fire energy is seen emanating from Lord Shiva’s third eye located at the center of his forehead.

Lord Vishnu’s ultimate weapon, the Sudarshan Chakra (discus spinning blade) is seen approaching Goddess Sati’s body on the right of this Bengali poster. To stop Lord Shiva’s cosmic dance and save the universe from total destruction, Lord Vishnu releases his Sudarshan Chakra to dismember Sati’s body into 51 different pieces that fell in different locations, with each being highly revered today by Hindus as the sacred Shakti Peethas.

Goddess Kali, a divine manifestation of Goddess Sati before her self-immolation, is seen illustrated on the bottom right of this Shiva Tandava poster. She is hand drawn in Kalighat painting style.

Typography used in this old Satir Dehatyag poster is entirely in Bengali. Hand drawn in a striking red font, the title stands out against a white background.

The soundtrack album of Satir Dehatyag (1954) was composed by Kalipada Sen, while lyrics were written by Pranab Ray and Mohini Chowdhury.