I'm One with the Warrior Inside

In today's Illumination, there's a major city in India that has taken the differing abilities of their people into account when celebrating a major religious and social festival. In Kolkata, a committee organizing the celebration of Durga Puja in the southern part of the city decided that this festival needed to be more inclusive. The celebration reveres the goddess Durga, a warrior and protective mother goddess in the Hindu religion, and is seen as a time for joy and thanksgiving.

Artists worked for months to create a bust of the goddess covered in screws and nails, allowing those with vision problems to feel the face of the goddess they can't see. Artists also did extensive work with bamboo and thread, weaving mantras and other important phrases in Braille into panels around the pandal (the temporary building built explicitly for this festival). Visitors are encouraged to touch, breaking all the rules of major religious events.

In another pandal nearby, devotees with wheelchairs or other mobility aids are able to worship at special counters set at an appropriate height. Durga Puja is one of the major festivals in the Hindu religion, and these organizers are working to allow all their worshipers to take part, regardless of their physical abilities. To me, this is one of the purposes of religion - to bring people together. I think the committee in Kolkata is setting a fine example in that regard.