Page:Durga Puja - With Notes and Illustrations.djvu/45

 Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Durga, though some have the first two transposed and the last with four arms only. Some have what is called, an Abhaya murti i. e. a two-armed Durga seated with Siva. The Buffalo-demon is represented by some as coming out of the carcass of a buffalo and is somewhere painted gray. Kartikeya is always represented as seated on a peacock. Sometimes we meet with a standing Kartikeya and then he is painted yellowish white. In some families the clothes of the three female idols are made by the architect with plasters of earth, and in others, pieces of cloth are actually placed round the idols, and in the latter case the color preferred for the golden colored female idols is red and for pure white Sarasvati blue or purple. In some families, again, the principal ornaments of the idols are made of earth. But Kartikeya is most susceptible of change. His dress depends much upon the fancy of the head of the family. The heads of Kartikeya, Ganesa and the demon are the same in every house. The heads of the three goddesses may be either slightly flat or oval. Many have an elongated head for the lion, more like that of a horse and a dragon, while others, delineate the natural face of the lion.

With these gods and goddesses, some of which are represented in clay and others in paint,