Durga Pooja

Several weeks ago - the Hindu community in Bangladesh celebrated Durga Pooja to honor Kali. Several of us drove out to the town of Dhamrai (about 2 hours from where we all lived) to visit a metal crafts company and learn more about Durga Pooja.

The town of Dhamrai is well known for their bronze metal craft, where they follow the old tradition of making statues from wax, covering them with terra cotta to make molds. The molds are heated up and the wax melts out of the terra cotta molds, which are then used to create the bronze statues that you'll see in the pictures below. We were invited by the owner of one the largest metal crafts store in town to join the festivities (and of course partake in lunch and maybe buy some statues)!

The owner of the store who invited us took us on a short walking tour of the different temples in the town - there were about 4-5 and we were able to see the different tableaus set up, similar to the Nativity scene that we see at Christmas.

Tatiana, her boyfriend Andy and I split from the main group and took a detour around town. Andy got some amazing shots. I did my best with my camera. =) My pictures are below.

To learn more about Durga Pooja and the story that is being celebrated - see the official site.

poster in town illustrating the story

...wish I had a better camera!! the statue was gorgeous!

all around town were various elements of old english architecture

the local drum maker - i tried to upload a video but it was taking too long to upload a 50mg file! sorry!

some really interesting shots that I got while exploring off the beaten track - I'm so glad that Tatiana is so adventurous. I would never have seen these areas otherwise!

A man and his son, bathing at the water pump. The little boy got a kick out of seeing his picture on my camera.

Andy - showing some of his pictures to his new friends

pullcart wallahs resting in the shade of the afternoon

Tatiana showing her shots

traditional folk horse - the wheels really work! (yeah - I couldn't help it, I bought one...)

work in progress

Elli and Erika in the store

this is the Ganesh that Erika had commissioned several months ago - she picked it up on this trip. this sucker was soooooo heavy - but really beautiful.

I really wanted to bring one of these guys home - but these llamas made me think of Nepal, not Bangladesh...and I would have wanted a matching pair.

The house where the metal crafts store was located - this building surrounds an huge courtyard and houses both the family and servants as well as the store itself.

Some of the kids that live in the house - all dressed up for guests!

After our tour, we were treated to a vegetarian meal of rice and mixed vegetables, served with a side of amazing pineapple chutney. We had to eat it with our hands of course!