DAY 561

Around the corner from our house, Durga Puja Park has come into its own with the installation of this Durja Puja pandal or display to celebrate this important festival. Durga is the female goddess - extremely powerful and the counterfoil to the male gods, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. No one messes with Durga. 
During the festival, devotees fast for nine days and on the last day the images of the goddess are immersed in water. It's actually celebrated twice a year, once at the beginning of the summer and once at the beginning of the winter. It's most prevalent in Western India, but it seems to be celebrated all over (except maybe not in the South). For the winter Durga Puja, the last day also coincides with Dussehra - more on that in a couple of days.