Скачать или смотреть India gears up for annual Durga Puja festival to celebrate Hindu Goddess Durga

(24 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Delhi, India - 21 September 2025
1.Women dancing next to idol of Goddess Durga ++PARTIALLY SPLIT SCREEN WITH SHOT2++
2. Idol of Goddess Durga being carried to a temporary shrine, earthen clay pot blowing incense smoke
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Amrita Gooptu, devotee: ++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT1 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT2&4-5
"She (Goddess Durga) is taken in this form and then we will be dressing her, we will be singing for her, we will be dancing. We will be regaling her with, you know, everything we want to show her and her family."
4. Mid of idol of Goddess Durga ++SPLIT SCREEN WITH SHOT5++
5. Devotee dancing with an earthen clay pot held in mouth

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Delhi, India - 19 September 2025
6. SOUNDBITE (Bengali) Subir Pal, 40, idol maker: ++SOUNDBITE IS OVERLAID BY SHOT7-8++
"First of all, it’s the face of mother (Goddess Durga). Those who come worship see mother’s face. And mother’s face should be like that. Some mother’s faces are sweet, some are Devi faces and some are mother’s fierce look. We have to take this into account and work accordingly.”
7. Various of idol maker giving finishing touches to clay idol of a god
8. Statues

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Delhi, India - 21 September 2025
9. Devotee dancing holding an earthen clay pot with incense smoke
10. Pan from idols to drummers beating traditional drums

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New Delhi, India - 19 September 2025
11. SOUNDBITE (Bengali) Subir Pal, 40, idol maker: ++SOUNDBITE IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 9-10++
“Durga Puja comes once a year, and everyone worships the idols made by me. This is my greatest pride and hope.”

STORYLINE:
India is gearing up for the annual “Durga Puja’ festival that celebrates the Hindu Goddess Durga, worshipped by her devotees as the mother of the universe for her graciousness and fearsome power.

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.

“So, she (Goddess Durga) is taken in this form and then we will be dressing her, we will be singing for her, we will be dancing," said Amrita Gooptu, a devotee in New Delhi. "We will be regaling her with, you know, everything we want to show her and her family."

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 Durga as the feminine divine, venerated for her triumph over the mythological demon Mahishasura.

Traditional idol-makers in Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal state, have been making an array of Durga images usually portrayed as a slaying goddess riding a lion, with Mahishasura crushed under her foot.

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 the festival that begins later this week.

The colorful idols are made using traditional techniques by artisans who have inherited their sculpting skills through generations.

After molding and shaping the handcrafted idol with bamboo, clay and mud, it is painted in vibrant colors and later adorned with lavish clothes and sparkling jewels.

40-year-old Subir Pal, is a second-generation sculptor.

Pal and fifteen other workers have been racing to finish about sixty idols of Goddess Durga and other deities, which will be placed at temporary shrines across the city.







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