City idols of Goddess Durga with Aishwarya's looks

She is married and may no longer set the screen on fire, but make no mistake, she is still a goddess.

Come Durga Puja and Hyderabad will see Aishwarya Rai with a bevy of other heroines in processions around the city as Durga Mata herself. The idol-makers have decided that their faces are cast in a splendour that is worthy of the divine mother's visage.

Idol-makers in Dhoolpet area of the Old City have already made several idols of Goddess Durga with Aishwarya's looks.

The Bollywood star can be seen as Goddess Durga perched on a lion, standing on a lotus, seated on a throne and in several other postures.

According to the craftsmen, the actress immortalised at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London is the favourite of organisers who are putting up pandals across the city.

The nine-day Durga Puja is slated to be held from October 12 to 21 and orders have started pouring in for idols. The prices vary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 20,000 depending on the size and model.

After Ash, it is Bhoomika who is a big draw followed by top heroines of yesteryear including Hema Malini and Madhuri Dixit. Bipasha Basu, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta can also be seen.

The idol-makers first make the mould of the face, which takes anywhere between one to five months. They use the posters of the actresses stuck on the walls of their dingy sheds for this. The attire of the idols is also painted in colours similar to those of the actresses' dresses in the posters.

"When one thinks of the goddess, a beautiful image is registered on the mind," said Sundar Singh, an idol-maker of Dhoolpet. "Aishwarya Rai and Bhoomika are beautiful women whose faces can be used to symbolise that of the goddess. I personally prefer Hema Malini."

Sundar Singh is planning to make 200 such Durga idols before the puja.

Durga idols of Dhoolpet are being bought by pandal organisers not just in the State but also by those from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

"Idols made by the city artists look real, attractive and are coloured well and that is what which brings us here," said K. Bhojanna, who had arrived from Basara in Adilabad district.