Durga Puja ends with immersion of idols

Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindus, ended yesterday with the immersion of the idols of goddess Durga and her children in water bodies.

This year, the puja was different as worshippers mostly avoided any gathering and festivity due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most of the puja organisers did not bring out any Dashami procession yesterday. Only a few brought out processions on a very limited scale.

All the temples across the country remained closed after the evening rituals (Sandhyarati) as per the decision of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee.

Visitors were not allowed to enter temples or puja mandaps from the beginning of Sandhyarati.

During the puja, special prayers were offered seeking relief from the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the five-day Durga Puja was held at 30,213 mandaps across the country. In Dhaka city, there were 232 mandaps this year against last year's 238.

Different programmes of Durga Puja were broadcast live on the Facebook pages of Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee and Dhakeshwari National Temple to enable devotees to take part in the rituals from their home.