Dussehra

Over the last week it has been the Hindu festival of Dussehra, which is one of Orissa's main holidays. Everyone at Ekta had a few days off work, and many people either visited their family or had their extended family come and stay with them.

In part, the holiday is to celebrate the victory of the goddess Durga over Mahishasur. Durga is a powerful goddess, and is depicted with ten arms, often riding a lion or a tiger and carrying swords and other weapons. She is said to represent two forms of female energy - one mild and protective and the other fierce and destructive.

During dussehra offerings are made to effigies of Durga. This large statue was erected near to the Bus Stand in Koraput, which is effectively the town centre. On the final day of Dussehra, a procession known as Bhasani Jatra takes place. Durga is loaded on to the back of a van and paraded around the town. People dance around the vehicle, which moves slowly and plays loud music. Eventually, the image of Durga will be taken to a river or lake and immersed in water.

Towns like Koraput do not just have one image of Durga, however, so on the occasion of Bhasani Jatra the roads were clogged with vans taking different statues of Durga to find water. Being cast into the water is supposed to be symbolic of Durga travelling to the Himalayas to be re-united with Shiva. However, in recent years people have become increasingly concerned about the impact the effigies, which are often made with cement and plastic and decorated with toxic paints, have on local water sources.