Durga Puja begins

Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community, began on Friday with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga at temples across the country, reports UNB.

The five-day festival will come to an end with the immersion of idols of the goddess in rivers and other water bodies across the country on 8 October.

The Mahasaptami puja will be held on Saturday while Mahashtami, Kumari Puja and Sandhi Puja on Sunday, Mahanabami puja on Monday and Bijoya Dashami on Tuesday.

Verses from the Chandi will be recited and people will celebrate the festival with music, drums and Shankha Dhani (blowing conch shells) at various temples and pandals in the city and across the country.

Adequate security measures have been taken for smooth celebrations of the festival.

Additional members of police, Ansar, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and other law enforcement agencies have been deployed in puja mandaps to ensure a full-proof security.

President Md Abdul Hamid and prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday felicitated the Hindu community in separate messages on the occasion of Durga Puja.

In his message, president Hamid said the country’s Hindu community has been celebrating Durga Puja amid huge enthusiasm and festivity with different rituals since ancient times.

Durga Puja is not only a religious festival, but also a social one, he added.

Marking Durgotshob, relatives, friends, family members, neighbours irrespective of caste, creed and religion get together to celebrate the festival, the president said, adding “So, it is a universal festival”.

President Hamid said Durga Puja is attached to the traditional heritage and culture of Bangla.

Apart from a religious festival, Durga Puja plays an important role in creating unity and mutual harmony among the countrymen, he said.

Abdul Hamid said communal harmony is universal heritage of the Bangali nation. “We’ll have our united efforts to take forward the heritage with our overall advancement,” he said.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said that Durga Puja is not only a festival of the Hindu community, rather it has turned into a universal festival in these days.

She called for celebrating the festival imbued with the motto “Religion for individuals, festival for all.”

Bangladesh, she said, is a safe place for people irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

“Our constitution ensures equal rights of the people of all castes and creeds,” she said.

The prime minister urged the people to maintain communal harmony to build a hunger and poverty free ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Marking the Sharadiya Durgotsab, the PM wished peace, welfare and prosperity for all citizens, including the Hindu community, of the country.