Durga Puja at 33,851 venues nationwide, 258 in Dhaka

Sharadiya Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bengali Hindu community, begins tomorrow, Friday. This year, it will be celebrated at 33,851 mandaps across Bangladesh, up from 32,351 last year.

In Dhaka metropolitan area, 258 pujas will be held this year, compared with 261 last year, a decrease of three.

The Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee jointly disclosed the figures at an exchange of views with journalists at the Dhakeshwari National Temple complex in the capital on Thursday morning.

They also said that this year, Goddess Durga will arrive on horseback and depart by boat, according to traditional beliefs.

Reading out a written statement at the meeting, Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee General Secretary Shubhashish Kumar Biswas said that several attacks on idols and temples had taken place in different districts during preparations for the festival. The districts include Sylhet, Rajbari, Panchagarh, Netrokona and Tangail.

A theft was reported at a historic Kali temple in Faridpur. In Sunamganj, Hindu households, shops and temples were attacked and looted. In Naogaon, there were reports of robberies by people posing as intelligence agency personnel, although law enforcement agencies responded quickly and many of the suspects were arrested.

Biswas said he did not want to see such attacks during Sharadiya Durga Puja. He said the violence must end not only through law enforcement action but also through an enlightened state ethos and social resistance.

It is not enough to think about security during the five days of Durga Puja. If we want to build a Bangladesh free of discrimination, we must think about security throughout all 365 days of the year, he said, calling for the promotion of secular values.

He also said he wanted to see a culture in which perpetrators were brought to justice.

The meeting outlined the schedule for this year's Durga Puja. The auspicious Bodhan, marking the invocation of Goddess Durga, will be observed today, Thursday, followed by Maha Shashthi tomorrow, Friday, 16 October.

Maha Saptami will be observed over two days, 17 and 18 October (Saturday and Sunday). Maha Ashtami will fall on 19 October (Monday), followed by Maha Navami on 20 October (Tuesday).

Bijoya Dashami, marking the conclusion of the festival, will be observed on 21 October (Wednesday). Processions celebrating Bijoya Dashami will take place across the country, including in Dhaka, at 3pm that day, followed by the immersion of the idols.

In their joint written statement, the Puja Udjapan Parishad and the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee said they wished to congratulate Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's government for three main reasons.

First, the Durga Puja holiday had previously been limited to one day. For years, the community had demanded that it be extended to three days. The interim government increased the holiday by one day two years ago. This year, the prime minister added another day, bringing the total to three days. One of the holidays falls on the day after Dashami, but it has also been designated a Puja holiday. The organisations expressed hope that a formal three-day public holiday would be declared for the festival next year.

Second, they said the Constitution of 1972 was framed in the spirit of the Bengali people's long democratic struggle and the Liberation War following Bangladesh's independence. State protocol at the time included readings from the holy scriptures of all religions at official functions, but the practice was discontinued later.

Recently, however, passages from the holy scriptures of different religions have been read at several state functions attended by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The organisations expressed hope that the practice would be permanently restored as part of state protocol.

Third, they cited the prime minister's remarks at a Janmashtami event: “Religion is individual, but the state belongs to everyone; religion is individual, but everyone has the right to security.”

The organisations said his remarks echoed a slogan they had promoted for four decades in pursuit of national unity and equal rights.

Responding to a journalist's question, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad General Secretary Santosh Sharma said action had been taken in most cases filed over incidents reported last year.

“We want to celebrate Puja without having to guard the venues ourselves. However, security measures are arranged every year, taking into account the realities of the country and the law and order situation,” he said.

Incidents of idol vandalism occur every year, he added. However, he said there was now some reason for optimism because, unlike in the past, when such incidents often went unpunished and no action was taken, a process for taking action had now begun.