Photos of a Hindu goddess’ idols being handcrafted for the Durga festival in India

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.”