Hindu community to bid farewell to goddess Durga Sunday

The five-day Durga Puja, the largest festival of the Hindu community, will come to an end on Sunday with the solemn immersion of the Goddess Durga across the country.

Devotees will throng Puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the festival, recite the mantras, offer flowers to the goddess Durga (pushpanjali) and pray for her blessings.

On this day, families visit each other to share sweetmeats. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other’s foreheads on the occasion.

Bijoya Dashami is the special ceremony of reaffirming peace and good relations among people.

In the capital, thousands of people are set to throng the Buriganga Sunday (October 13) to observe the final phase of the festival — the immersion of the goddess Durga signifying her return to Kailash.

Devotees in their tearful eyes will 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.

Meanwhile, there will be strict security measures in place so that Durga Puja ends peacefully. According to government data, Durga Puja will be celebrated at 32, 666 mandaps across the country.

The five-day festival began with the unveiling of the face of the deity on the day of Maha Shashthi on October 9.

Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, and Maha Nabami have been celebrated in the next few days. The festival will come to an end with the immersion of the idols of the Goddess Durga on Bijoya Dashami on October 13.