Recently right wing campaigners were furious over some nude paintings of a Hindu goddess by prominent Indian painter, MF Hussain.

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There's a grim precedent: one of India's greatest painters, MF Husain, was literally hounded into exile for drawing a Hindu goddess naked.

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Dewi Sri is the Balinese Hindu goddess of fertility and prosperity, and it is to her that the rice farmers so carefully present offerings in the simple bamboo shrines at the edge of each field, just as we had witnessed earlier.

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Indeed, spirituality lies at the heart of Diwali, with devotees specifically seeking blessings from two prominent Hindu deities: Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of good fortune and auspicious beginnings.

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