Durga Puja Concludes with the Immersion of Idols
The five-day-long Sharadiya Durga Puja, the grandest religious festival of the Hindu community, concluded with the immersion of idols on Vijaya Dashami amid a deeply emotional atmosphere of joy and grief. Devotees across the country bade farewell to Goddess Durga, marking her scriptural departure from her paternal home on Earth to her divine abode in Kailash. The final day’s rituals began in the morning with Dashami Bihit Puja and Darpan Visarjan at the Dhakeshwari National Temple, followed by the vibrant tradition of Sindoor Khela, where married women applied vermilion to the deity and each other, offering prayers for the longevity and prosperity of their families.
In the afternoon, a colourful Vijaya procession carrying idols from various mandaps in the capital commenced from the Dhakeshwari National Temple. Moving through key city points, including Jagannath Hall, Doyel Chattar, and Nawabpur Road, the procession culminated at Wiseghat on the Buriganga River for the final immersion rites. Reflecting on the significance of the occasion, artisan Chandan Chandra Das from Old Dhaka remarked, ‘Mother Durga is our revered deity and the source of all universal power. Today, she transitions from her earthen form to her eternal divine spirit, and we bid her farewell with prayers for the destruction of all evil.’
Beyond its spiritual rituals, the festival served as a powerful symbol of communal harmony and civic engagement throughout the nation. On the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, the President hosted a special greeting exchange program at Bangabhaban for leaders and representatives of the Hindu community. Furthermore, the Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee organised a free medical camp and a long-standing traditional blood donation drive at the temple premises. Demonstrating widespread community participation, the committee also distributed Mahaprasad to approximately 50,000 people on the night of Nabami.
Emphasising the spirit of unity that defined this year’s celebrations, Shubhasish Kumar Biswas Sadhan, General Secretary of the Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, expressed his hope for the future, stating, ‘We want to preserve the bond of harmony that has developed among us, aiming to build a Bangladesh of harmony and friendship in the days ahead.’ He also highlighted the rare global example of peaceful coexistence, noting that brothers of the majority Muslim faith and leaders from various political parties actively cooperated to ensure the festival’s smooth, safe, and peaceful execution across all venues.
Nationwide, Durgotsav was celebrated across 33,851 mandaps, including 258 within the Dhaka metropolis, with 11 designated river ghats facilitating the idol immersions. While mandaps across the capital submerged their idols in the Buriganga and Turag rivers, the Dhakeshwari National Temple upheld its unique historical legacy. As Shubhasish Kumar Biswas Sadhan explained, Goddess Durga herself remains enshrined at the temple, where the main idol is traditionally preserved for an entire year and immersed only just before the arrival of the next puja festival.
