Ten Armed Lady Festival (Durja Puja)
I went to my Hindu friend Sujoy’s village for the Durja Puja festival. This is basically Christmas time for the Hindus. They give thanks to Durja the goddess with ten arms. According to a legend, a demon vanquished the Hindu gods and their king. Durga, equipped with lethal weapons in each of her ten arms, rode a ferocious lion, and killed the demon.

Mirzapur had about 50 temporary temples dedicated to Purja. Thousands of people came to the village to walk from temple to temple to admire and pray to the Durja statues. The last day was definitely the highlight. Everyone dressed in their best shari or punjabi and danced the night away. I won 100 taka for my dancing efforts. I danced all night long with the kids, the village elder, my bangla aunty, some young men, and the local dwarf. After the dancing ended the statues were submerged and left to decompose in the local river.