The Durga idol sitting on an elephant in the Jaunpur pandal. Picture by Naeem Ansari

Lucknow, Oct. 8: A Durga on an elephant, the Bahujan Samaj Party symbol, rather than a lion has shocked devotees in Jaunpur town and triggered a court case.

“What a twist…. Durga riding an elephant to catch votes for the BSP,” said homemaker Manisha Rai derisively after visiting the Phool Wali Gali Puja, whose chief organiser is BSP leader and Jaunpur municipal chairman Dinesh Tandon.

“This is nothing short of blasphemy,” said Durgaram Saran, a Congress worker.

A lawyer, Arvind Prasad, moved a petition in a magistrate’s court in the eastern Uttar Pradesh town on Monday alleging the Puja organisers had hurt Hindu sentiments. “The motive is mala fide and there is a clear move to get political mileage out of this,” Prasad said.

Some priests had earlier asked the Jaunpur police chief to take action but the police did not. Now the court has asked the police to register a case and probe.

Mahendra Sonkar, chief patron of the Puja, justified the move in the name of artistic freedom. He also mentioned that according to the Hindu almanac, the goddess was supposed to arrive on earth this year riding an elephant, symbolising good rain and prosperity. “So what’s wrong if the idol is put on an elephant?”

A Sanskrit scholar from Varanasi, Satish Pandey, did not accept this argument.

“The basic deity of Durga is not to be interfered with,” he said. “She should be on a lion in keeping with mythology, since this image is embedded in the minds of devotees. It is outrageous to see Durga on an elephant.”

When Tandon came to the pandal to inaugurate the Puja on Saturday evening — Panchami — he had praised the organisers for the innovation. But the huge elephant and a relatively small Durga puzzled ordinary devotees.

Using the Puja for political campaign isn’t unheard of. Mayavati’s new ally, the CPM, regularly sets up stalls selling Marxist literature in front of Puja pandals.

Since the CPM does not organise pujas, however, it has had hardly any chance to use the idol to send out political messages.