Indian Hindus Celebrate Goddess

Devotees immerse an idol of goddess Durga in the River Yamuna, in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. The annual four-day festival commemorates the story of the lion-riding, 10-armed goddess Durga slaying a demon king, celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

A young devotee dances with a priest, right, during the immersion of Hindu goddess Durga on the banks of the River Ganges in Calcutta, India, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. The annual festival commemorates the Hindu goddess Durga's victory over evil.

Two idols of goddess Durga float in the River Ganges after immersion in Calcutta, India, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. The annual festival commemorates the story of the lion-riding, 10-armed goddess Durga slaying a demon king, celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

Devotees immerse an idol of 10-armed goddess Durga slaying a demon king in the River Brahmaputra, in Gauhati, India, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. The annual festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil.

A woman enacts the role of Hindu Goddess Kali, considered to be the destroyer of evil spirits, during Durga Puja celebrations in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2005. Kali and Durga are both forms of the supreme Hindu Goddess Devi.

Women worship the Hindu Goddess Durga on the final day of the Durga festival in Kolkata, India, Oct. 12, 2005. The Hindu festival of Durga Puja, which celebrates the killing of a demon king by the Hindu goddess Durga, is especially colorful in the eastern Indian city.

An Indian Hindu woman smiles as she has her face painted with "sindur," a red powder used by married women, on the final day of the Durga festival in Kolkata, India, Oct. 12, 2005. The Hindu festival of Durga Puja celebrates the killing of a demon king by the Hindu goddess Durga.

Yoindrila Goswami is dressed as a virgin girl during Kumari Puja (virgin worship) in the Ramkrishna Mission Temple in Dhaka, Oct. 11, 2005. The traditional Kumari Puja falls on the third day of the on-going Hindu religious festival Durga Puja, during which young children are worshiped as "living goddesses."

Indian Hindu drummers perform during prayers offered to the Hindu goddess Durga at a makeshift temple in New Delhi, Oct. 11, 2005. The four-day Durga celebration culminates with the immersion of the clay idol of the Hindu goddess who is a symbol of power and the triumph of good over evil in Hindu mythology.

A priest performs ritual on the banks of River Ganga at the beginning of Durga Puja festival in Calcutta, India Monday, Oct. 10, 2005. The annual festival commemorates the story of the lion-riding, 10-armed goddess slaying of a demon king, celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

A traditionally decorated 10-armed idol of the Hindu Goddess Durga is displayed at a makeshift community worship place in Kolkata, India, Oct. 10, 2005, on the second day of the four-day Durga worship. Durga symbolizes power and the triumph of good over evil in Hindu mythology.

Indian idol makers work on semi-finished idols of the 10-armed Hindu goddess Durga, in background, and goddess Kali, in foreground, at a workshop in Bangalore, Oct. 4, 2005. The artists, who come from the artist's village in Kolkata, are busily preparing idols for the four-day festival of Durga Puja.

An Indian idol maker gives the finishing touches to a clay idol of the Hindu goddess Durga in Mumbai, India, Oct. 2, 2005. Artists from the eastern state of West Bengal travel across the country every year to the western coastal metropolis and stay in makeshift tents as they work round-the-clock preparing idols of the goddess ahead of the four-day festival of Durga Puja which take place Oct. 9-12.