An artist from Kolkata prepares idols of Hindu goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A woman uses smoke as a prop to photograph her child, who is dressed as the Hindu goddess Durga, at a temporary shelter where idols of Hindu gods and goddesses are being made ahead of the Durga Puja festival, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist from Kolkata paints an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A worker makes tea for fellow artists who are creating idols of Hindu deities ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Workers take a break while creating idols of Hindu deities ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Idols of Hindu gods and goddesses are prepared ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist from Kolkata paints an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Govind Nath from Kolkata paints the eye of an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist from Kolkata prepares different colors for painting idols of Hindu deities ahead of the Durga Puja festival at a temporary shelter in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Discarded hay models used as the base layer for creating idols of Hindu deities are kept aside ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist attaches a colorful dress to an idol of a Hindu god ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist walks past his living quarters in a temporary shelter where he and others are creating idols of Hindu gods and goddesses ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Idols of Hindu goddess Durga are kept for transportation ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist attaches a crown to an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An artist prepares idols of Hindu gods ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Workers and artists bathe while visitors look at an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga, which was created ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Artists give the final touches to idols of the Hindu goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Devotees sing and dance as they prepare to take an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga to their place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Devotees react upon seeing the idols of the Hindu goddess Durga as they arrive to take them to their place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Devotees sing and dance as they gather at a temporary shelter to take an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga to their place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Workers pull ropes tied to the base of an idol of Durga as they move it onto a truck for transportation to a place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Devotees sing and dance as they transport an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga to their place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Devotees sing and dance as they gather at a temporary shelter to take an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga to their place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Workers use ropes to secure an idol of the Hindu goddess Durga on a truck as it is transported to a place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Devotees sprinkle water and throw flower petals on the road through which they will be taking out the Hindu goddess Durga idol on a truck to a place of worship ahead of the Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025.. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Audio By Carbonatix
10:15 PM on Tuesday, September 23
By MANISH SWARUP
NEW DELHI (AP) — Leaning on his 10-armed creation, Govind Nath is ready to breathe life into the Hindu goddess Durga, a beloved deity who will be revered by tens of thousands of worshippers during the Durga Puja festival.
After molding and shaping the handcrafted idol with bamboo, clay and mud, he is painting her large, doe-shaped eyes. The deity will then be adorned with lavish clothes and sparkling jewels.
“Her smile has to be perfect. Whoever sees her face should feel she is our mother Goddess,” said Nath, 52, who belongs to a family of traditional idol-makers from Kolkata.
Durga Puja is the biggest festival for India’s Bengali community and is marked by the installation of huge, elaborately decorated images of the goddess, with feasts, music and dance to celebrate the victory of good over evil.
The festival also celebrates the feminine divine by venerating Goddess Durga, who is worshipped as the mother of the universe and for her triumph over the mythological demon Mahishasura.
In a cluster of dimly lit temporary structures in the heart of New Delhi, artisans have been sculpting idols of Durga and the elephant-headed god Ganesh for an annual festival that begins later this week.
They work with a range of vibrant colors, sometimes using their arms as a palette to mix the perfect hue.
Durga is usually portrayed as a fearsome goddess riding a lion, with Mahishasura crushed under her foot.
Her idols will soon be placed in homes and elaborate community shrines, with paths leading up to them lined with flowers and echoing with devotional chants.
Ritual prayers with intoxicating drumbeats and fragrant incense smoke will venerate the mother goddess during the festival, after which the Durga idols will be ceremonially lowered into rivers or other bodies of water.
Durga Puja festival in West Bengal’s capital city Kolkata has been given UNESCO’s recognition as part of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity."
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