Durga Puja
Bijoya Dashami today
The five-day Durga Puja, the greatest of all Hindu festivals, ends today with solemn immersion of the goddess Durga in the capital and elsewhere in the country.
In the morning, devotees will throng the puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the festival. The beating of drums and cymbals, intricately designed idols of Durga and drifts of incense lent the mandaps across the country a festive air as devotees yesterday celebrated Maha Navami.
Each of the mandaps across the country has been adorned with beautiful idols. Skilled artisans and artists have crafted those and showcased the goddess in all her glory.
Devotees will recite the mantras and offer flowers to the goddess Durga (pushpanjali) and pray for her blessings.
Bijoya Dashami is the special ceremony of reaffirming peace and good relations among people.
On this day, families visit each other to share sweetmeats. Married Hindu women put sindoor on each other’s forehead on the occasion.
In the capital, thousands of people will today throng the Buriganga to observe the final phase of the festival — the immersion of the goddess Durga.
Shouldering the idol of the goddess Durga, devotees will go into waist-deep water into the river and immerse the mother deity.
Durga Puja, the annual Hindu festival also known as Sharadiya (autumnal) Durga Utsav, is the worship of “Shakti” [divine force] embodied in goddess Durga.
It symbolises the battle between good and evil where the dark forces eventually succumb to the divine.
The state-run and private television channels and radios will air special programmes while newspapers will publish special supplements marking the significance of Bijoya Dashami.
A total of 28,000 puja pandals had been erected across the country to observe the Durga puja festival this year.
-With The Daily Star input
