Hindu festival depicts terror attacks

Floats depicting recent events are a new feature

By Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta

A jet flying into a skyscraper and blowing up, scores of helicopters flying over a desert dropping heavily-armed commandos, President George Bush and Osama Bin Laden crossing swords.

No, it is not New York or Afghanistan, but the streets of Calcutta in India.

It is Durga Puja time in West Bengal state - the biggest religious festival celebrated by Bengali Hindus which is meant to symbolise the triumph of good over evil.

Much of what has happened in the world recently is being brought to life through lights used with great imagination.

Big attendance

The five-day festival is reported to have notched up record turnouts.

A more traditional display of the goddess Durga

It ends on Friday with the immersion of images of Goddess Durga, to whom the festival is dedicated.

But in a way, the Durga Puja is less of a religious and more of a social and cultural event.

The religious side of the festival is routine and most Bengali Hindus tend to perform it more as a matter of habit.

Cultural draw

But the cultural and aesthetic side of the festival is a big attraction.

Special literary journals are displayed on the stands and cultural sessions abound. The illuminations and the floats are the talk of the town.

And even the archetypal demon killed in battle by the goddess Durga changes shape to be assume the form of contemporary villains.

Six years ago, some organisers in Calcutta put up the dinosaur in place of the traditional demon when Steven Speilberg's film Jurassic Park was a big hit.

This year, some organisers wanted to replace the traditional sword-wielding demon with Osama Bin Laden.

However, the city police, mindful of possible repercussions amongst Muslims who support the Saudi-born dissident, intervened to stop them.