Published 21:10 IST, October 19th 2020
Kolkata Durga Puja Pandal depicts goddess as doctor killing Coronavirus 'the demon'
Showing Mahishasura as the novel coronavirus, Durga has been depicted as medical professional fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in Durga puja pandal, Kolkata.
Days after migrant mother as an avatar of goddess Durga caused a stir on social media, another artist has now made a different equally engrossing version at a Durga Puja pandal. Showing Mahishasura as the novel coronavirus, Durga has been depicted as a medical professional fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. From netizens agreeing that now is the dire need for some spiritual guidance amid the global health crisis to saying that there is no other way to honour the ‘Corona warriors’ Hundreds of internet users posted the images across social media platforms.
Even though Durga Puja in 2020 has been limited due to COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to tone down the celebrations, artists have now lowered their enthusiasm. Instead, they seem to have taken this as an opportunity to decorate unique pandals incorporating the crisis as its theme. In the latest version that has taken the internet by storm, Durga along with her entourage of deities including Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh are also shown as other essential workers who tackled the pandemic on the forefront, depicting that they were no less than any divine figure.
What is being called as “perfectly crafted” pandal is Durga wearing a doctor’s coat who kills the demon Mahishasur, depicted as novel coronavirus, with an injection that appears to be a vaccine for COVID-19. Meanwhile, Ganesh and Karthik are shown as police officers and a sanitation worker respectively. Lakshmi and Saraswati are depicted as a nurse and a medical professional each. See pictures:
'Excellent' way to pay respect
Several internet users either reported the images or agreed that it is an “excellent” way to pay respect to the frontline warriors of the COVID-19 pandemic who tirelessly working round the clock to control the spread of the disease. While doctors were occupied attending the patients and the nation was under lockdown, the essential workers such as law enforcement officials never got a single day at home. Since the novel coronavirus outbreak began in China in December 2019, many stories emerged from across the globe that revealed the sacrifice that essential workers made amid the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Durga Puja pandal of Kolkata's Barisha Club gained the attraction of netizens after they replaced the traditional idol of the goddess with that of a migrant woman along with her children. The club installed the idol to depict the hardships faced by the migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown and to pay a tribute to them. Watch:
Updated 21:10 IST, October 19th 2020