Durga puja, the largest religious event of the Hindus Community, will culminate in Bangladesh, with the immersion of idols on Wednesday evening.
On the last day of the puja, devotees are thronging mandaps in Dhaka and elsewhere across the country for Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the grand festival, to celebrate the victory of the Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura.
During this day, families visit each other and share sweetmeat. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other’s foreheads at the event.
In Bangladesh this year, the religious festival is being celebrated at some 32,168 puja mandaps across the country, including 241 in Dhaka.
In the capital, thousands of people are set to throng the Buriganga on Wednesday to see the final phase of the festival — the immersion of the Goddess Durga.
Devotees in their tearful eyes will bid farewell to the mother deity and her children – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh – as the idols will be immersed, praying the Goddess Durga’s return next year.
Subsequently, there will be strict security measures in place so that Durga puja ends in harmony.
The five-day festival started in October with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi.
Durga Puja, the annual Hindu festival also known as Sharadiya (autumnal) Durga Utsab, is the worship of “Shakti” (divine force) embodied in the Goddess Durga.
It represents the battle between good and evil where the dark forces ultimately succumb to the divine.
in the meantime, President Abdul Hamid has welcomed the members of the country’s Hindu community to the function.
In his message, President Hamid said the main religious festival of the Bengali Hindu community is Durga Puja. “The country’s Hindu community has been celebrating the puja amid huge enthusiasm and festivity with different rituals since ancient times.”
