How to read a Durga Puja image: Durga's ten arms and weapons, the lion, Mahishasura, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, Kartik, their vahanas, ekchala and daker saaj.
Durga slaying Mahishasura: a popular print from Bengal. Photo: Unknown, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Durga's face is usually serene even in battle: her victory is certain, and the calm expresses that her violence protects rather than destroys.
Mahishasuramardini, Durga slaying the buffalo demon: a 12th-century chlorite sculpture of the Pala school. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
In the Devi Mahatmya the goddess is born from the combined radiance of the gods, and each then gives her a weapon or gift.
An illustrated leaf of the Devi Mahatmya. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Mahishasura is the demon king who drove the gods from heaven. In Bengali images he is muscular, often painted green, with a sword and shield, caught at the moment of defeat, sometimes with a snake held by the goddess binding him.
Mahishasuramardini, Durga slaying the buffalo demon: a 12th-century chlorite sculpture of the Pala school. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The Bengali image is unusual in showing the goddess with her children, because in Bengal she is also Uma visiting her parents' home.
Durga with her family, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartik, at Maddox Square, Kolkata. Photo: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The figure in a red-bordered white sari next to Ganesha is the Kola Bou (banana bride).
Kola Bou, the banana plant bride, is carried to the pond for her bath on Saptami morning. Photo: Goutam1962, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
In the ekchala (single frame) style, all the figures, the goddess, her four children, the lion and Mahishasura, are made on one structure and share one semicircular backdrop called the chalchitra.
Mahishasuramardini, Durga slaying the buffalo demon: a 12th-century chlorite sculpture of the Pala school. Photo: SpeakingArch, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
The last and most important stage of making an image is chokkhu daan, the gift of eyes, when the artisan paints the goddess's eyes.
Idols take shape in a workshop lane at Kumartuli, north Kolkata. Photo: Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
To compare styles, visit a traditional ekchala image and a theme pandal on the same day.
A theme pandal built around Bengal's folk culture. Photo: Himadri8991, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
How to read a Durga Puja image: Durga's ten arms and weapons, the lion, Mahishasura, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha, Kartik, their vahanas, ekchala and daker saaj.
Goddess Durga and her family → Next story: Durga Puja: the complete guide All photo storiesMusic: Sitar sample yaman, Tito Dutta, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.