DHAKA, Oct 15, 2018 (BSS) – Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of
the Bangalee Hindu community, began today with the incarnation (Bodhon) of
the Goddess Durga on the day of Maha Shashti at temples across the country.
Shashti is the sixth day of Devi Pakhsha and marked the formal beginning of
Durga Puja.
Marking Shashti, Kalparambho was performed at 6.30 in the morning while
Bodhan, (the incarnation of Ma Durga idol), Amantran (inviting the Goddess)
and Adhiva (sanctifying the stay of the Goddess in the puja area of the
pandals) were performed in the late afternoon.
Recitation of verses from the Holy Chandi, blowing of conch shells and
beating of dhak-dhols at temples and pandals started this morning which will
continue for the five days.
Maha Saptami puja will be performed tomorrow, Maha Ashtami, Kumari Puja and
Sandhi Puja on Wednesday, Maha Nabami Puja on Thursday and Bijoya Dashami on
Friday.
The five-day festival will come to an end with the immersion of the idols
of the Goddess Durga on the day of Bijoya Dashami in the nearby rivers and
water bodies across the country on October 19.
President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina conveyed
greetings to the members of the Hindu community in separate messages on the
occasion of the festival.
A mood of festivities is being witnessed among the devotees irrespective of
ages marking the festival while adequate security measures have already been
taken in the puja pandals across the country.
Draped in new dresses, a large numbers of devotees of all ages have
already started thronging the city puja pandals, particularly at Dhakeshwari
National Temple, and offering prayers before the Goddess Durga seeking peace,
prosperity and welfare of the country and its people.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad General Secretary Nirmal Kumar Chattarjee
said as many as 31,272 permanent and temporary mandaps were erected in the
country, including 234 in the capital city this year.
In Dhaka city, the largest number of crowd of devotees is expected to be
seen in the five-day festival at Dhakeshwari National Temple, Ramkrishna
Mission and Math, Kalabagan, Banani, Shakhari Bazar and Dhaka University
Jagannath Hall puja mandaps.
Security has been beefed up in all Puja pandals throughout the country,
including the capital, with the deployment of additional squads of Ansars,
police, RAB and other law enforcers for peaceful celebration of the festival.
Besides, voluntary groups will also perform duties at the puja pandals.
All Puja committees have installed close circuit cameras and metal
detectors at their mandaps.
Apart from offering prayers before the Goddess, Dhakeshwari National Temple
at Lalbagh has chalked out other programmes for the five-day festival
including rendition of devotional songs, distribution of clothes among the
poor, distribution of Mohaprosad, Arati competition, voluntary blood donation
and bringing out a Bijoya Dashami procession in the city from the temple
premises.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee
this year decided that the immersion of idols of Durga Puja would be done by
10 pm on the day of Bijoya Dashami across the country.
The organisations also urged organizers of Durga Puja across the country to
keep the processions of Bijoya Dashami off from 12 noon to 2pm on the day
coinciding with the Juma prayers.