Sights & Sounds of India- and beyond: Osure? Oh, Sure!

Osure, or Mahisashura, is the most neglected and vilified personality in the entire symbolism and atmospherics of Durga Puja. In the celebration, he is depicted as an evil looking man coming out of the body of a slain buffalo and is waging war against Goddess Durga, who in turn is killing him with a Trident. In Mysore (earlier known as Mahishuru), which is known as the kingdom of Mahisashura, this time is celebrated as the victory of Goddess Chamundeshwari (the fearsome form of the seven forms of Mother Goddess in Hindu religion) over the fearsome demon king. Those who know nothing about the mythological background of the worship ritual, does not hesitate in describing to others with great confidence that the event celebrates "victory of good over evil". No prizes for guessing who the evil one is. Of late, I have been wondering about the one-sidedness of the depiction. No doubt disturbing Gods and waging war against them is not a pious act. But not much narration is available from the perspective of the Demons (Osure's) which Mahisashura epitomized. Devdutt Pattnaik, India's famous author/researcher/mythologist, associated the mythical power of Asuras to resurrect themselves with vegetation and fertility. Some researchers have written on him in English language, such as Anu Kumar's "Mahisashura- The Buffalo Demon". I looked up traditional references and found a detailed narrative of the background of Durga Puja from Devi Bhagavata Purana in the website of Kanchi Kamakoti Puram- http://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/details/devibhagvatpurana37.html?PHPSESSID=1b06cc3b4e6c40a0cd779d0f1e020836 It broadly describes Mahishasura as a Buffalo Demon, the son of Rambha (who was also blessed by Agni), as a hefty and ferocious person who was blessed by one of the Holy Trinities (Brahma) no force on earth could kill him except a woman. Emboldened with such sense of immortality, Mahishasura wrecked havoc on heaven and earth to torment mortals and Gods, till the time Gods came together to unify their power to create Goddess Durga who eventually killed him after a fierce battle. The tingle of one sidedness and fatalism in the destiny of Mahisashura evoked my interest. This year, I tried to capture the various depictions of Mahishasura in the idols at various community Pujas of Kolkata. I find that there is unfair one-sidedness about him even now. Some depictions even watered down his most evident attributes- fearsomeness and machoism. In some places, he has been reduced to downright comical in appearance. The entire effort to superimpose "Peace" in the idol of Durga-Mahisashura is farcical. It was and is about war/contradiction/supremacy/rule of law or whatever else but not "peace".

Without being judgmental or sentimental about this gentleman, I present to you the various forms of Mahisasura, as presented by the creative artisans/theme directors of Kolkata Durga Puja. Form your own opinion.