GAIBANDHA, Oct 22, 2020 (BSS) – Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu Community, began today here with festivity and religious fervour.
According to mythology, on Maha Shashti day, the first day of the 5-day festival, the Goddess Durga descends on the mortal earth from her heavenly adobe with her four children including Ganesha, Kartikeya, Lakshami and Saraswati and the beautiful idols of Maa Dura are opened for people to look through.
The incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga was held yesterday at temples ahead of the puja on Maha Panchami.
Her arrival on earth is welcomed by the devotees with much fanfare, amidst the beats of dhak (Drum) and the main ritual carried on this day is the unveiling of the face of the idol of Goddess Durga.
The rituals of Bodhon, Amontron and Adibas are performed before the commencement of the puja, the mythology also said.
President of District Puja Celebration Parishad Ranajit Bakhshi Surjwa said a total of 607 puja mandaps have been erected in all the seven upazilas in the district this year.
Of the total, some 101 mandaps have been erected in Sadar upazila, 131 in Sundarganj upazila, 126 in Gobindaganj upazila, 108 in Sadullapur upazila, 61 in Palashbari upazila, 66 in Shaghata upazila, and 14 in Fulchhari upazila of the district, he also said.
Earlier, the idol-makers worked round the clock, finished their jobs timely with the final touches and made the idols very beautiful, charming and attractive in the mandaps to all.
The whole district has taken a festive look as the Hindu devotees including men, women, boys, girls, youths and adolescents attired in fine dresses are thronging different puja mandaps to have a look at goddess Durga and seeking the blessing from Mother Durga.
Besides, hundreds of Muslims and people of other religious faiths are also visiting the mandaps decorated colorfully and exchanging greetings with their Hindu friends and neighbors on Durga Puja.
The greatest festival will end on October 26 through the immersion of idols of Mother Durga in different water bodies like pond, canal and rivers after celebrating the Bijoya Dashami by the Hindu community.
Initiative has been taken to provide uninterrupted power supply to the puja mandaps at nights to enable the Hindu devotees in offering their prayers, puja, archana, kirtons, arati and other religious rituals, said executive engineer of NESCO here Anwarul Islam.
Leaders of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad urged all to strictly maintain the health guidelines and directives issued by the government in the wake of the global pandemic COVID-19 during the Durga Puja celebration.
To celebrate the festival peacefully in the district a large number of law enforcers including RAB, police and ansar-VDP have been deployed in and around the puja mandaps and they are also patrolling the roads to maintain the law and order situation under control, said superintendent of police Engineer Towhidul Islam.
Talking to the BSS, deputy commissioner Abdul Matin said the district administration distributed 281 tonnes of rice for the puja mandaps through district and upazila administration to assist the Hindu community to celebrate the festival peacefully.