Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bangalee Hindu community, begins tomorrow with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga on the day of Maha Shashthi at temples across the country amid stringent security.
On the occasion, preparations at all Puja pandals have nearly been completed as devotees and artisans are busy giving the final touches to idols and pandals across the country marking the festival, reports BSS.
In separate messages marking the festival, President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina conveyed greetings to the country’s Hindu community.
The five-day festival starts Monday (tomorrow), October 15, with the incarnation or ‘Bodhon’ of the Goddess Durga and ending with the immersion of the idols of the Goddess Durga in nearby rivers and water bodies across the country on Friday, October 19.
To mark Shashthi tomorrow, recitation of verses from the Holy Chandi and blowing of conch shells (Shankha) and beating of dhak- dhols (drums) will be heard at temples and pandals throughout the day. The Shashthi puja will begin ith Kalparombha at 6:30 am.
Security has been beefed up t all Puja pandals throughout the country, including the capital, with the deployment of additional squads of Ansars, police, RAB and other law enforcement for peaceful celebration of the festival. Voluntary groups will also perform duties at the puja pandals.
“Law enforcement including police, RAB, and Ansars will remain deployed for five days from the first day (tomorrow) at all Puja mandaps across the country until the immersion on October 19,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said earlier.
The government has banned the use of firecrackers and all sorts of drugs during the Puja, the minister added.
He also said that the social networking sites would also be put under surveillance so that no group can spread any rumors to destroy the communal harmony ahead of Durga Puja.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad General Secretary Nirmal Kumar Chattarjee said as many as 31,272 permanent and temporary mandaps have been erected in the country, including 234 in the capital city this year.
All the Puja committees have installed closed circuit cameras and metal detectors at their mandaps.
While adequate security measures have already been taken at Puja pandals across the country, a mood of festivities has already been witnessed among devotees, irrespective of age, marking the festival.
In Dhaka, the largest crowd of devotees will be at Dhakeshwari National Temple, Ramkrishna Mission and Math, Kalabagan, Banani, Shakhari Bazar, and Dhaka University Jagannath Hall puja mandaps.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee this year decided that the Durga Puja immersion of idols shall be done by 10 pm on the day of Bijoya Dashami throughout the country.
Draped in new dresses, a large numbers of devotees of all ages will throng the city pandals, particularly at Dhakeshwari National Temple, and offer prayers before the Goddess Durga seeking peace, prosperity, and welfare of the country and its people.
Apart from offering prayers before the Goddess, Dhakeshwari National Temple at Lalbagh has chalked out other programmes, including the rendition of devotional songs, distribution of clothes among the poor, distribution of Mohaprosad, Arati competitions, voluntary blood donations, and bringing out a Bijoya Dashami procession in the city from temple premises.
Preparations have also been completed in the tastefully decorated Puja pandals at Ramkrishna Mission and Math, Ramna Kalimandir O Anandamayee Ashram, Kalabagan, Baradeshwari Kalimata Mandir, Siddheshwari Kalibari, Bholanath Mandir Ashram, Jagannath Hall, Rishipara Gautam Ashram, Gulshan Banani Sarbojonin Puja Parishad, Basabo Balurmath, Bonogram, South Maishundi, Shankhari Bazar, Tanti Bazar, Panitola, Farashganj, North Brook Hall Road, Lalbagh, and other places in the city.
On the eve of the festival, leaders of Bangladesh Puja Utjapan Parishad, Mahanagar Sarbojonin Puja Committee, and Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad expressed Puja greetings to all communities of the country.
The organizations have 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 Juma prayers.
Maha Saptami puja will be held on Tuesday, Maha Ashtami, Kumari Puja and Sandhi Puja on Wednesday, Maha Nabami Puja on Thursday, and Bijoya Dashami on Friday.
