Sitting on the top of her lion, the Hindu goddess Durga swings a heavenly weapon into each of her ten stitches. However, her target is not the usual demon of deceased sura.
She is targeting another perceived enemy that represents the power of evil. He is an impressive figure with a blonde coif, a ribbed torso and a face modeled after US President Donald Trump.
It was announced last week in West Bengal, eastern West Bengal during the Hindu festival of Durgapuja, known as Durgapeugeot by Bengali Hindus. The symbolism of the sculpture was impossible to ignore.
In a celebration honouring the victory of good over evil, the statue was more than just a political satire. It was once a symbol of close-woven friendship, worn out by Trump’s attempts to restructure world trade.
“In the past, India and the US had good relations, but since Trump came, he has been trying to squash us to restrain India and crush us,” Sanjay Basak, a member of the organising committee of Durga Puja in Maasidabad city, told CNN. “That’s why we portrayed Trump as this demon and were beaten by his powerful mother, Durga.”
At Durgapuja’s five-day festival, the entire city will transform into a vast outdoor art gallery, and the mythical battle between the goddess and her demons will be reconsidered to reflect modern unrest.
Over the years, these facilities have tackled everything from the immigration crisis to the war with neighbouring Pakistan.
“Osama bin Laden has been a popular option since 9/11,” said Sushovan Sircar, a consultant who reels social media about Bengali culture and spends time between New Delhi and the West Bengal capital, Kolkata.
After the fatal border conflict between India and China in 2020, another installation was famously portrayed for portraying Chinese leader Xi Jin Palliao in the role of a villain, pushing the boundaries of diplomatic commentary through religious art.
“It is in this vein that Pandal (Pavilion) decided to portray Trump as an ostensible expression of people’s general feelings,” Sarkar said.
It wasn’t always the case.
Six years ago, Trump held hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at NRG Stadium in Houston, with 50,000 people celebrating two right-wing populists and having shared talent in turning diplomatic relations into epic glasses.
The political partnership show rally known as “Haudi Modi!” was reflected in the subsequent “Namaste Trump” event held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in the following February, solidifying the public narrative of the seemingly unbreakable individual alliance.
However, their friendship has been tested recently by Trump’s inauguration.
Earlier this year, Trump publicly ridden New Delhi and imposed some of the nation’s highest tariffs ever, labeling the Indian economy as “dead.”
Half of the 50% collection is Trump’s punishment for the increased purchase of Russian oil after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The other half is part of Trump’s signature “America First” campaign to reduce the US trade deficit.
India called tariffs “unfair” and “unfair” while pointing out the hypocrisy of Trump’s moves. According to the US and Europe, other products such as fertilizers and chemicals are still traded with Russia.
However, the Trump administration has doubled. White House officials in August described the Russian war in Ukraine as a “Modi war” and put pressure on New Delhi to cut economic ties with the Kremlin. India has repeatedly defended the purchase of Russian crude oil, calling the statement “inaccurate and misleading.”
Then, in September, Trump’s surprise order, which charges a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications, which many feel like a personal attack on India’s talent and ambitions, as the largest group of beneficiaries of the skilled workers program.
“Right now, Trump is just putting tariffs on tariffs, and this is a big issue for the day. So it’s appropriate that we need to portray that.”
Sanjay Basak
It is this sense of betrayal that we have found a powerful artistic outlet in the form of a demon statue.
“Trump as Mahishasra offers a political message to those visiting the Pandal (Pavilion) and the mass media organizations that cover it,” said Chuyam Kelzee, a resident of Kolkata.
This blend of art and politics is a hallmark of Bengali culture, he said, providing a simple but powerful message. Trump and his administration’s “regression agenda” became modern demons killed by God’s mother Durga.
For three months, Basak, the organising committee of Trump’s installation, said their team had been working almost secretly as an intentional tactic to create elements of suspense ahead of its release.
“The devil’s identity was a closely guarded secret,” he said. In fact, Trump’s final unmistakable features were only sculpted in the last seven days, hidden from sight until the last moment.
When the video of the completed installation surfaced online, the response was electricity, Basak said. “Thousands” of people flocked to the pavilion and formed lines that meandered through the neighborhood, he added.
For Basak, the overwhelming turnout was a testimony. “It really resonated with a lot of people,” he said.
In West Bengal, art wasn’t just about decoration. It is a language for dialogue, a weapon of challenge, and a major medium for social and political debate.
As a breeding ground for resistance against British colonists, Bengal’s freedom struggle was fought like weapons as well as ideas.
While Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath’s Tagoa’s work infused with its intellectual and spiritual soul, poet and novelist Bank Chandra Chatterjee cried out such a cry into the movement.
This deep political consciousness did not diminish from independence. It was institutionalized during more than 30 years of local Communist Party governance, and today its legacy unfolds on the streets.
This towering statue of Trump is one of several politically charged installations that portray the symbol of the American leader or his economic agenda as a demon.
Revered by millions of Hindus as the mother of the universe, Durga embodies a powerful duality. Her spear and club represent both fierce talent and delicate motherhood.
And in the Indian Bengali community, particularly in the cultural epicenter of West Bengal, Durga Puja has evolved beyond purely religious celebrations into one of the region’s most intentional public discourse and sociopolitical commentaries.
“This kind of critique and social commentary is part of our culture,” said Bassack, the organising committee of Trump Installations.
“Right now, Trump is just putting tariffs on tariffs, and this is a big issue for the day. So it’s appropriate that we need to portray that.”
