The festival of Durga Puja honours the goddess Durga, an avatar of Kali. For five days, the life of the city is suspended around its celebration. Monuments of bamboo and cloth are erected all over the city to house statues of the goddess. Surrounded by Ganesh, Laxmi and Karathik, Durga, the virtuous, spears Asur, the villain. A whole neighbourhood of the city, Kumartoli, is dedicated to the manufacture of the gods. They are made by hand, out of mud spread on bamboo frames covered with hay.The festival over, a joyous escort of men and women, dancing to the thump of drums, takes the goddess to the...