LONDON, ENGLAND, October 1, 2006: The Bengali community in Britain marked the opening of the festival with a number of events in London and other cities. Several hundred people gathered at a hall in the London district of Camden while a priest chanted prayers as worshippers lit incense sticks and offered food to the Goddess. This is a Durga with a difference. She was created by Bengali craftsmen working at the British Museum – as part of the museum’s Voices of Bengal exhibition. The celebrations will continue until Monday, when the images will be ritually immersed in the River Thames, where the materials from which the Deity was made will be returned to their original state.
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