Members of the Hindu community have celebrated the Ratha Yatra of Jagannath Dev with due religious fervor and gaiety.
Hindus celebrated the festival on Friday, commemorating the annual journey of Lord Jagannath along with his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple.
According to the Hindu calendar, the festival begins on the Dwitiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Aashar.
The festival will come to an end with the Ulto Ratha Yatra (reverse journey) on July 5.
In observance of the festival, different religious bodies and temples drew up various programs.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) organized a nine-day program in Dhaka.
The country's oldest and most traditional Ratha Yatra festival was held in Dhamrai in the Dhaka district.
A colorful procession was brought out in the capital at 3pm from the Swamibagh temple.
During the procession, devotees pulled the ropes of the chariots (Ratha) from the Swamibagh Ashram to the Dhakeshwari National Temple.
The procession went through Jaikali Temple intersection, Ittefaq crossing, Motijheel Shapla Chattar, Gulistan, Jatiya Press Club, High Court crossing, Central Shaheed Minar, Jagannath Hall, and Palashi Crossing.
Clad in colorful traditional dresses, a large number of devotees joined the procession, which also drew massive onlookers on either side of the roads.
Devotional songs were played on loudspeakers while devotees also performed songs and beat musical instruments.
A large number of devotees also joined the procession in decorated trucks.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) took special security measures marking the festival.
The Ulto Ratha Yatra (reverse journey) will be celebrated on July 5 when the devotees will pull the chariot along the same route to bring it back from the Dhakeshwari Temple to Swamibagh.
The Ratha Yatra of Puri in India is considered the oldest and largest Hindu chariot festival, celebrated annually on the bright half of the lunar month of Ashar of the Bengali calendar year.