The five-day Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bangalee Hindu community, ended on Wednesday with the immersion of the idols of Goddess Durga and her children in water bodies across the country amid festivity.
Devotees in their tearful eyes have given farewell to the mother deity and her children – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh – through the immersion of their idols in the water wishing Durga’s return next year.
Before the emersion of the idols, mother deity Durga was bidden farewell by Darpan Bisharjan at 8:50 am.
Amid tight security, idols of puja mandaps in the city and its outskirts were immersed in Buriganga and Turag rivers and Waisghat.
Earlier, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee jointly brought out a 'Bijoya Shubhajatra' from Dhakeshwari National Temple.
Devotees thronged Puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the festival and recited the mantras and offered flowers to the goddess Durga and prayed for her blessings.
As part of the main rituals of Dashami Puja celebrations, female devotees gave vermilion at the feet of Durga at mandaps and temples which is part of the traditional ‘Shidur Khela’. The ritual follows Hindu women putting the vermilion on each other aspiring for prosperity in their lives, as a tribute to the power of Devi Durga.
Durga puja started on October 15 with the incarnation of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi.
This year, the religious festival was celebrated at more than 32 thousand puja mandaps across the country, including 241 in the capital Dhaka.
Durga Puja signifies the birth of Durga with the blessings of gods, as collective energy, to fight the demon king Mahishasura.
Puja organisers have expressed their satisfaction over the security measures taken by the law-enforcement agencies.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
