In Pictures: Behold the exciting conception of the Goddess Durga at this year's puja pandals

A vivid Durga with a fierce pagan vibe is set against Picasso's Cubist-style black-and-white figures at a pandal during the Durga Puja festival in Kolkata on October 6, 2024.

A Durga altar inside a 'Lajja' (shame) themed pandal depicts the outrage over the recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a government-run hospital in Kolkata, October 11, 2024.

Commemorating womanhood, a puja pandal's deity is enclosed by finely drawn panels of famous Indian women in Kolkata on October 2, 2024.

A green-themed pandal decorated with natural plants depicts Durga as Mother Nature herself in Kolkata on October 5, 2024.

A dramatic beam of light highlights Durga in a circular mount, a cinematic rendering in monochrome that wows worshippers at a pandal in Kolkata, October 10, 2024.

A Kolkata artist depicts Durga's open-palmed vision of women's freedom from repression at the Arambagh puja pandal in New Delhi on October 07, 2024.

An eerie underwater blue submerges devotees at a puja pandal themed 'under the sea' in Nagaon, Assam, India, on October 10, 2024.

Devotees worship Durga at an altar inside an Indian Constitution-themed pandal in Kolkata, October 11, 2024.

A village woman and her children form the tableau holding the deity Durga in her hands at a woven bamboo mat pandal in Siliguri on October 9, 2024.

The Goddess looks over exquisitely crafted figures engaged in a battle depicting the triumph of good over evil at a pandal in Kolkata on October 7, 2024.

A 100-feet-long Durga and her consorts appear in an atypical form at this pandal near Kolkata on October 8, 2024.

A brilliant stage setting made of a building-high wall of story-telling murals forms the backdrop of sculpted figures hand-hauling a deity at a pandal in Kolkata on September 30, 2024.

An exceptional design symmetry and baked-clay-like forms mark the presentation of the deity at this pandal in Kolkata on October 9, 2024.

A dark, gothic facade features the celebrated artwork of God giving life to Adam above a painting of the Goddess Durga engulfed by devotees at a pandal in Kolkata on October 11, 2024.

A winged Durga rises above her consorts in a coir-themed circular pandal in Siliguri, October 9, 2024.

Delicate cream-and-white-hued flower buds and elements mark the presentation of Durga at this pandal in Kolkata on October 10, 2024.

Durga appears as a simple householder in a folksy rendering at a pandal in Siliguri on October 9, 2024.

Durga appears triumphant in a ghagra choli amidst psychedelic mushrooms in an otherworldly pandal in Siliguri on October 11, 2024.

A stunning modern rendition of a pandal space in Tibetan Buddhist art style presents Durga, like the Tibetan deity Tara, in Siliguri on October 13, 2024.

A ceiling of braided hair and meticulously assembled portraits of women around the deity create an intense assemblage highlighting the flaming red hands of the Goddess.

A web of intertwined fabric and thread patterns in a translucent, cylindrical pandal accentuates the movement of the Durga astride her vehicle, the lion. Kolkata, October 10, 2024.

A pastoral scene showing the deity on a bullock cart alongside a village pond is interjected by a passing train, a common sight cutting through the swathe of villages in India. Siliguri, October 9, 2024.