The five-day Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bangalee Hindu community, ended yesterday with the immersion of idols of the Goddess Durga.

Durga Puja, also known as Sharadiya (autumnal), is the worship of Shakti (divine force) embodied in Goddess Durga. It symbolises the battle between good and evil where the dark forces eventually succumb to the divine forces.

Devotees bade a solemn farewell to their deity Durga and her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh through the immersion of the idols in water after inviting her to return to them next year.

According to Hindu mythology, the deity, along with her children, sets out for Kailash, her husband’s abode, on Dashami.

Besides, the arrival and departure of Durga are considered very significant as her mode of transport on both days indicates the fate of the days to come.

This year, Durga chose horse for both her arrival and departure. According to Hindu mythology, journey by horse signifies social and political unrest and natural calamities.    

Durga Puja, which began on Friday, was celebrated at 31,398 permanent and temporary puja mandaps across the country this year.

Devotees recited mantras and offered pushpanjali (flowers) to the Goddess Durga and prayed for her blessings on the last day of Durga Puja. Families visited each other to share sweetmeats during the Dashami festivity.

In the capital, thousands of men, women and children joined the traditional idols immersion procession. It ended at Waizghat after parading through different city streets. In the evening, the idols were immersed in the Buriganga and Turag rivers amid sadness and tears.

Yesterday was a public holiday. On the occasion, President Abdul Hamid hosted a reception for the Hindus at the Bangabhaban.

In Chattogram, idols were immersed in the port city’s Patenga and Khalurghat sea beach areas with the presence of a large number of people of the Hindu community of all ages.