Calcutta - Religion

Calcutta is a very cosmopolitan city and as a result just about every religion in the world is represented there. With this section from the Rev Down's film we start to explore the religious life of India, starting with the festivities of the Chinese New Year and going on to some of the Hindu "puja"s.

Although it does not feature in this film, every year you could go down to the street of the idol-makers and watch the idols being made: a straw armature, thickly plastered with mud and then painted in garish Dulux. Families would come down and choose their idol, take it home, worship it for a week and then take it in a rickshaw down to the Ganges and ceremoniously throw it in.