Durga Puja, the greatest religious festival of the Hindus, ended yesterday with the immersion of the idols of goddess Durga and her children on the fifth day of celebration of it across the country.
Bijoya Dashami processions were brought out on the day. Devotees with tearful eyes joined the processions carrying the idols to bid farewell to Durga and her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh while wishing their return next year.
Over 27,000 puja mandaps were set up in the country with 191 in the capital, said Nirmol Chatarjee, joint secretary of the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee.
In the capital, streets leading to Waiz Ghat on the Buriganga were thronged with thousands of Hindu devotees and others to observe immersion of the idols.
The Dhakeswari National Temple Committee brought out the traditional Bijoya Dashami procession from Palashi intersection at 4:30pm. It was inaugurated by Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutta, chief adviser of the committee. Many of the participants in colourful dress were seen dancing with the beat of drums .
The procession paraded different city streets and ended at Waiz Ghat around 6:30pm.
Earlier, the puja committee organised different programmes marking Bijoya Dashami and arranged a blood donation programme at Dhakeswari Temple.
Besides, Gulshan-Banani Sarbojanin Puja Parishad brought a Bijoya Dashami procession from Banani. Devotees joined the procession with idols from puja mandaps at Kalabagan, Dhanmondi, Badda, Uttara, Mirpur, Tongi and Ashulia, and immersed those at BIWTA Ghat at Ashulia, said a press release.
The government took tight security measures on the occasion. A large number of law enforcers including members of Rapid Action Battalion were deployed at puja mandaps and places of immersion of ideals.
Bijoya Dashami is an occasion for firming peace and good relations among people. Members of Hindu community visited each other’s house and shared sweetmeats on the day.
Durga Puja is the worship of “Shakti” [divine force] embodied in goddess Durga. It symbolises the battle between good and evil where the evil forces eventually surrender to the good ones.
The state-run and private television channels and radio aired special programmes while newspapers brought out special supplements on the occasion.
A Chittagong correspondent reports: Durga Puja celebrations ended yesterday with the immersion of idols at five points of in the port city and on its outskirts.
With colourful Bijoya Dashami processions, devotees immersed the idols at three points in the Bay of Bengal — Patenga , South Kattoli and Parki — and two spots in the Karnaphuli – – Gangabari and Avoymitra Ghat.
Patenga immersion point saw the largest crowd with 160 idols immersed there. Around around 30 idols were immersed at South Kattoli and 20 in the Karnaphuli, said Mahanagar Puja Udzapan Parishad.
