Goddess-demon mull peace in era of nuclear weapons

Varanasi, Sep 4 (UNI) The blind race for nuclear weaponry has even forced Goddess Durga and demon Mahisasur, to think of making peace during the coming festival of Durga Puja.

Giving a twist to the famed mythological tale of Goddess Durga eliminating Mahisasur -- to symbolise the triumph of divine over evil -- an idol maker in this holy city is working on an innovative creation, to depict both the goddess and demon contemplating peace in the era of nuclear weapons.

The gigantic Goddess Durga idol trying to eliminate the demon, has in its backdrop three nuclear missiles awaiting their launch.

The nuke troika, however, has three doves perched atop, besides two more doves near the goddess and the demon, to symbolise that even the Goddess and demon are thinking ending the age-old hostility, in the era of nuclear weapons.

''The time has come when the old mythological tale of triumph of truth over evil, is replaced with that portraying the victory of peace over a prospective nuclear war,'' said Gopal Chandra Dey, in the business of idol making in Debonathpura locality for the last 28 years.

The innovative idol is not the lone creation of the Bengali artist, trying to hook burning social issues to devout, but in another idol, Dey is experimenting further by replacing the age-old form of Mahisasur with the 'Moohkuchwa' (representing a gang of face-smashers, who have allegedly killed over ten villagers during the last two months in this district).

''Earlier I replaced Mahisasur with sandal brigand Veerappan, global terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden and even the 'Moohnochwa', the mouth-scratching alien, which gave sleepless nights to UPites some years ago. This time I decided to pray to the Goddess to eliminate the gang of mouth-smashers, by replacing the demon with Moohkuchwa,'' maintained Dey.

The master idol-maker, whose Durga idols were not only confined to 'pandals' of Varanasi, but also graced adjoining districts of Allahabad, Fatehpur and even Lucknow, had in the last Saraswati Puja clubbed the theme of hit TV show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' with his creation, where Lord Shiva resembling Big B Amitabh Bachchan was shown quizzing Goddess Saraswati.

Dey is not the only idol-maker sculpting innovative creations for the coming festival in Varanasi. A team of artists from Khardah in North 24 Parganas (Bengal), camping in the city since last month, has experimented by placing the Goddess on the throne of Indra -- the god of heaven.

''We have recreated the entire episode of elimination of the demon by Goddess this time in heaven, where Durga, the goddess will be perched on Indra's throne,'' said Manoranjan Rudra Pal, the idol-maker who has been creating evocative idols for Durga Puja in Varanasi for the last 16 years.

The father-son duo of Chinoo and Abhijit Biswas, who last year replaced buffalo -- the mount of Mahisasur with a Chinese dragon, to drive home the burning issue of domestic industry bleeding under the deluge of Chinese imports is now working on two innovative creations.

While, the duo is trying to provide a semblance of 'Ashoka Pillar' in the background to provide a nationalistic touch to one of its idols, they are also experimenting by accompanying Goddess Durga with the trinity of Bramha, Vishnu, Mahesh in another Eklachal creation.

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