Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/182

 ritual is accomplished and the god is returned to his temple at Patan, where he remains in state until the following year.

Of the Hindu festivals, the "Dassera" or Durga Puja is the most celebrated, and is a week of many functions in Nepal. It commemorates the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasur, who usually takes the form of a buffalo. The scene is a popular one with the Nepali art craftsman, who frequently introduces it in wood or metal in his decorations of the temple. The plate facing p. 105 is a tympanum carved in wood, which adorns a small shrine in Patan, and depicts the artist's conception of this legend. Durga, sixteen-armed representing sixteen different forces, dances in ecstasy on the world's Evil, which is symbolized by a buffalo. The act of crushing this emblem of wickedness gives great joy to the other deities, and the artist has carved Ganesh, Verun, and others of the Hindu Pantheon, playing on musical instruments as an indication of their pleasure. The remainder of the composition is replete with artistic allegory, which is one of the most