8216;Living Durga8217; woos crowds in Durga Puja

People have been thronging the tiny pandal where 8220;living8221; goddesses, young girls playing Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati have substituted the idols.

The members of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya have been depicting the presence of 8216;Durga8217; and 8216;Asura8217; in all human beings by putting up three girls dressed up as Durga and her daughters 8211; Lakshmi and Saraswati 8211; at Spiritual Museum opposite Shambhunath Pandit Hospital on Elgin Road in Kolkata.

8220;Girls, who practise simple Rajyoga or meditation, have dressed up as goddesses and stand still on the pandal with Durga clutching a trident, Saraswati holding a veena and Lakshmi depicted with a pot of wealth,8221; Brahmakumari Meera said.

However, the pandal is conspicuous by the absence of the Mahisasura who is slain by Durga. It also does not feature Durga8217;s sons 8211; Lord Kartik and Lord Ganesh.

8220;The asura usually sits at the feet of Durga. But this year Durga is slaying the five vices of lust, anger, greed, pride and infatuation. We planned to have kids to play Kartik and Ganesh but as they could not be expected to sit still for long, so we had to do away with that,8221; Meera said.

The girl representing Durga holds the trident with two hands. The eight artificial hands fixed on her back on the wall hold instruments of 8220;peace, cooperation, happiness, power, love, purity and humility8221;.

The visitors also stand fixed, watching the 8220;living goddesses8221; which are based on various themes. This year8217;s theme depicts victory of Durga which comprises virtues in oneself over the vices of self which could be compared with the monsters being slain by Durga.

8220;How could they stay still without even blinking?8221; asked Sarbani Chatterjee, a visitor from Shyambazar in north Kolkata.

Chatterjee visits the 8220;Jibanto8221; Living Durga pandal every year to see how someone could stand still even as people in the crowd wait for the living goddesses to blink or move.

Voices like 8220;look, Durga is moving8221; or 8220;Saraswati is shifting her feet8221; or 8220;Lakshmi is blinking8221; are often heard.

Surabhi, who stood as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga in the past two days of the festival, said, 8220;As we overhear the comments we try to do our best but regular practice of meditation helps us to stand still for hours.8221;

8220;I visited puja pandals on the first day and did not like the crowd. It is better to stay here and play goddesses,8221; said Surabhi, a student of class VIII in Delhi Public School, when asked whether she had missed visiting puja pandals.

A curtain is pulled before the standing girls every five minutes to give them 2-minute break and let the crowd disperse. The 8220;Living Durga8221; show is held from 7 pm to 12 midnight during the four-day of Durga puja except the last day of Bijoya Dashami.

8220;While standing on the pandal, we meditate which helps us not to get distracted by the crowd,8221; Harsha, a teacher in National High School for Girls, said during a break.

Brahmakumari Meera of the organisation said they organised the Living Goddess show to create curiosity among people about meditation.

8220;When many visitors ask what helps the girls to stay still for such a long time, we explain them the benefits of meditation. Many of them come later to learn simple Rajyoga,8221; she said.

Several girls offer to play goddesses and the authorities try to give them opportunity in turns. They procure the filigree from the market and decorate it themselves.

Visitors patiently wait in front of the pandal for the curtain to go up. They take photos of the 8220;living goddesses8221; with mobile cameras and children look in wonder as devotional music plays in the background.