(throaty chanting)
- [Narrator] Images of the
goddess appear throughout India.
She can appear on her own or
as the consort of male deity.
The goddess represents primal forces
of nature, energy, and fertility.
She can appear wrathful or compassionate.
One of the most popular
forms of the goddess
is known as Durga.
- Durga is highly revered in Bengal.
And Bengalis all over
India, even if they're
away from their homes,
come the month of October,
when it is time for Durga Puja,
or the festival of the goddess, Durga,
there will be 10 days of celebration.
(high-pitched wailing music)
- [Narrator] Statues
of the goddess, Durga,
are hand-crafted with clay
on a superstructure of straw.
They are brightly painted and
dressed with fine fabrics.
The statues are displayed,
a competition is held,
and prizes are awarded.
Durga rides on a lion, and
her many arms brandish weapons
given to her by the male gods
who were unable to defeat a demon.
- [Bobby] The moment
that we see in the statue
invariably is that Durga
mounting or standing on the lion.
Often, there is a human figure emerging
whose chest has been
pierced by this trident
held in Durga's, one of her hands.
When she is destroying the forces of evil,
she is not doing with any
kind of personal animosity.
She is doing it as an act
where justice must prevail
over injustice, where right
must prevail over wrongdoing.
(crowd yelling)
- [Narrator] At the end of the festival,
the statues are taken to a nearby river
and immersed in the waters.
(crowd yelling)
- [Bobby] She is returned
back to the Earth
because she was constructed with clay,
and the clay, once again,
returns to the Earth.
But, it's not unusual to
find grown people crying,
really, really, grieving.
And, they'll be kind of
beseeching the mother
to come back again next year.
(crowd chattering) (Indian music)
(crowd yelling and cheering)
