By IANS,
Dhaka : Thousands of Bangladeshis participated in the revelry that marked the end of the Durga Puja festival that was observed with religious fervour by the Hindus, who form the country’s second-largest religious grouping.
The Hindus Thursday observed the concluding day of the Durga Puja festival as Bijoya Dashami, which came in close succession to the Eid-ul-Fitr festival of the Muslims. The day was a public holiday.
Devotees thronged the over 22,000 puja pandals (marquees) across the country in the morning. About 165 pandals were set up in the national capital alone.
In the evening, the devotees bade solemn farewell to goddess Durga alongwith Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartic and Ganesh by immersing their idols in rivers while inviting the goddess to return to them next autumn, the New Age newspaper reported Friday.
In Dhaka, thousands of men, women and children joined the traditional idol-immersion procession brought out from near the historic Dhakeswari Temple with 100 trucks carrying idols of Durga. The procession drew to a close at Waizghat on the Buriganga river after parading through main streets of the city.
Special security measures were taken as members of different law-enforcement agencies escorted the procession until the immersion of the images.
Tapas Paul, chief of the Mahanagar Sarbajaneen Puja Committee, said idols of goddess Durga from around 30 pandals had been brought to Dhakeswari Temple for the Bijoya march.
On the occasion, President Iajuddin Ahmed and his wife Anwara Begum hosted a reception for Hindus at Bangabhaban.