Shardiya Durga Puja, The Largest Hindu Festival, Begins on Friday
The vibrant celebration of Sharadiya Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Bengali Hindu community, officially commences today across the nation with ‘Maha Shasthi.’ The day marks the sacred awakening, or ‘Bodhan,’ of Goddess Durga, initiating five days of spiritual devotion, cultural festivities, and community gatherings. According to the traditional Bengali almanac, Goddess Durga arrives on Earth from her heavenly abode riding a horse and will depart on a boat, symbolically bringing peace and welfare to the world before the festival concludes next Wednesday on Vijaya Dashami through solemn idol immersions.
The main religious rituals are scheduled to unfold in structured phases over the coming days, beginning with ‘Maha Saptami’ spanning Saturday and Sunday. A central highlight of this phase is the traditional ‘Nabapatrika’ ritual, wherein nine distinct plants representing different manifestations of the Goddess are ritually bathed and worshipped. This will be followed on Monday by ‘Maha Ashtami,’ featuring the auspicious ‘Sandhi Puja’ performed at the juncture of Ashtami and Navami tithis, while ‘Maha Navami’ will be observed the following day with sacred offerings of ‘Bhog’ to the deity before final farewells on Vijaya Dashami.
Preparations at temples, mandaps, and temporary pandals nationwide have reached their final stages, incorporating artistic decorations, elaborate lighting displays, and arrangements for cultural programs. At the capital’s central venue, the Dhakeshwari National Temple Mandap, an extensive schedule of events has been organized alongside regular worship rituals. These festivities include performances of devotional music, distribution of clothes to the needy, sharing of sacred Mahaprasad, vibrant Arati competitions, and the grand traditional Vijaya procession to conclude the multi-day event.
To guarantee a safe and peaceful environment throughout the festive season, law enforcement agencies across the country have implemented multi-tiered security measures. Personnel from the Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Ansar are being deployed at every puja mandap in Dhaka and other districts nationwide. In addition to regular law enforcement officers, dedicated volunteer teams will be actively stationed at almost every venue to manage crowd movement and assist devotees, ensuring smooth execution of all religious and cultural proceedings.
