Durga Puja ends with immersion of goddess
Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Bengali Hindus, ended on Wednesday with the immersion of Goddess Durga's idols across the country amid tight security.
According to the beliefs of the Hindus, the goddess Durga has returned to her husband's house at Kailash in Devaloy (heaven) through immersion.
In the capital, thousands of people thronged the Buriganga River in the city's Bosila area to observe the final phase of the festival -- the immersion of the goddess Durga.
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Hindu Devotees from different parts of the city came to the river ghat in trucks carrying idols by singing hymns to Durga with the sounds of age-old musical instruments such as 'Shankha', 'Khol', 'Dhak'.
Devotees in their tearful eyes were seen to bid 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.
In port city Chattogram, idol immersion was held at Patenga Sea Beach, Karnaphuli River, Firingi Bazar and Salimpur Beach area at Kalurghat and Sitakunda.
Durga Puja celebrations were organised at 282 places in the Chattogram metropolitan area. Besides, the leaders of Chattogram Puja Udjapon Parishad said Durga Puja was celebrated at 2,062 mandaps in 15 upazilas.
Visitors thronged the Puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, recited the mantras, offered flowers to the goddess Durga and prayed for her blessings.
On Bijoya Dashami, Hindu families visit each other to share sweetmeats.
As part of the main rituals of Dashami Puja celebrations, female devotees gave vermilion at the feet of Durga at mandaps and temples across the city, which is part of the traditional 'Shidur Khela'.
The ritual follows Hindu women putting the vermilion on each other aspiring for prosperity in lives, as a tribute to the power of Goddess Durga.
In Bangladesh this year, the religious festival was celebrated at some 32,168 puja mandaps spread throughout the country, including 241 in capital Dhaka.
The five-day festival started on 1 October with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi.
Durga Puja, the annual Hindu festival also known as Sharadaya (autumnal) Durgotsob, 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.
