Why Bengalis splurge on Durga when there are 330 mn deities to choose from

We need to view broad-spectrum 'state deities' like Bengal's Durga not so much as gods but as platforms that offered recognition to aspirational classes for having 'arrived'.

During Durga Puja, the indomitable spirit and irrepressible energies of Bengalis literally burst forth, holding normal life to ransom. The spirit of festivity surrounds us as hundreds and thousands of gaily-decorated pandals – those magnificent creations made of bamboo, cloth, plywood and imagination – come up everywhere. They house the mammoth but exquisitely sculpted figures of Durga and her family, and the whole neighbourhood is transformed into a wonderland of lights, animation and music that the organisers conjure.

This is, incidentally, when the rest of India observes Navaratri, the nine holy nights and days of piety, restraint, fasts and vegetarianism.