Photos of the Week: Durga Puja, Sukkot preparations

By Kit Doyle · October 7, 2022

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes Durga Puja and other Hindu festivals, Sukkot preparations and more. Hindu women smear vermilion powder on each other's faces during Durga Puja festival in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The festival commemorates the slaying of a demon king by lion-riding, ten armed goddess Durga, marking the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/ Mahesh Kumar A.) Devotees immerse an idol of Hindu goddess Durga in a makeshift pond at a park on the last day of Durga Puja festival in New Delhi, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The festival commemorates the slaying of a demon king by lion-riding, ten armed goddess Durga, marking the triumph of good over evil.(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) People crowd a makeshift worship place for Hindu goddess Durga during Durga Puja festival, in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. The immersion of idols on the fifth and final day marks the end of the festival that commemorates the slaying of a demon king by lion-riding, 10-armed goddess Durga, marking the triumph of good over evil. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz supervises the pantry inside the Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida, Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, in Fort Myers, Fla. Following Hurricane Ian, the synagogue has been transformed into a full-fledged community center with food trucks and a pantry. They celebrated Yom Kippur on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man carries palm fronds to build a Sukkah, a temporary structure built for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. The Sukkah is built and lived in during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, named for the shelters the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years. The week-long holiday begins Sunday. (AP Photo//Oded Balilty) An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man inspects an etrog, a citrus fruit, to determine if it is ritually acceptable as one of the four items used as a symbol on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. The holiday commemorates the Israelites 40 years of wandering in the desert and a decorated hut is erected outside religious households as a sign of temporary shelter. The weeklong holiday begins on Sunday. (AP Photo//Oded Balilty) An artist dressed as Hindu monkey god Hanuman, left, takes a selfie with artists dressed as demon king Ravana, center, and Hindu god Ram, right, before a final Ramleela performance as part of Dussehra festival celebrations in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. Ramleela is a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu lord Rama. After the enactment of the legendary war between Good and Evil, the Ramleela celebrations climax in the Dussehra night festivities where the giant effigies of demon King Ravana, his brother Kumbakaran and son Meghnad are burned, typically with fireworks. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) People watch the burning of effigies of demon King Ravana, his brother Kumbakaran and son Meghnad, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets to protest the death of Mahsa Amini. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) Ahmedabad Police Commissioner Sanjay Shrivastav performs rituals in front of weapons at police headquarters on Vijayadashmi, or Dussehra festival, in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The festival culminates with the burning of effigies of Ravana, signifying the victory of good over evil. Weapons are also blessed on this day. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Archival Photos Mrs. Pat McDivitt, right, wife of Air Force Maj. James A. McDivitt who commanded the Gemini 4 spacecraft, attends Mass in the chapel of Father George Beck's home in Clear Lake City, near Houston, in June 1965. The Mass was said in the priest's residence — St. Paul's parish at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center has no formal church building. Kneeling in front at left is Michael, 8, oldest child of the McDivitts. Others are not identified. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Roughly 200 children from various centers in the East Harlem area took part in the Teenage Enrichment Program of the 1965 "Summer in the City" project of educational, recreational and cultural activities, sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York, touring St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

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