GAIBANDHA, Sept 29, 2017 (BSS) – Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of Bangali Hindus, is being celebrated amid much enthusiasm, religious fervor, gaiety and solemnity in the district.
General Secretary of District Puja Celebration Parishad Principal Paresh Chandra Saha said a total of 579 puja mandaps have been erected in all the seven upazilas in the district this year.
Of them, some 92 mandaps have been erected at Sadar upazila, 118 at
Gobindaganj upazila, 129 at Sundarganj upazila, 101 at Sadullapur upazila, 64 at Palashbari upazila, 60 at Shaghata upazila and 15 at Fulchhari upazila, he said.
The entire district has taken a festive look. Hindu devotees attired with nice dresses are thronging different puja mandaps with festive moods to have a look at goddess Durga.
Besides, hundreds of Muslims as well as people of other religious faith are also visiting the mandaps decorated colorfully and exchanging greetings with their Hindu friends and neighbours.
The greatest festival will end tomorrow through the immersion of idols of Durga in water bodies after celebrating Bijoya Dashami.
To celebrate the festival peacefully in the district, a large number of law enforcers, including RAB, police and ansar-VDP have been deployed in and around the puja mandaps, said Mashrukur Rahman Khaled, superintendent of police (SP).
Besides, the law enforcing agencies are also patrolling the roads round the clock to maintain law and order situation under control so that the devotees could move from one mandap to another safely, the SP also said.
District relief and Rehabilitation Officer AKM Idris Ali said the district administration distributed around 290 tonnes of rice for puja mandaps to assist the Hindu community to celebrate the festival peacefully.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gautam Chandra Pal said he had visited different puja mandaps in the district separately in last three days and exchanged greetings with priests and Hindus.