Mere few seconds dented centuries of religious harmony when three bombs went off at the Shia Muslim community headquarters in Old Dhaka last night.

The early morning blast caught the Shia community by surprise as they were preparing to bring out Tajia procession to mark the holy Ashura.

Having lived most of their life in peace, it took them some time to realise that the Ashura gathering was being attack, said a victim attending treatment to his injuries at hospital.

"We have had 400 years of peace, we never imagined something like this could happen," said Firoz Hossain, superintendent of Huseni Dalan. "Such attack is of course aimed at creating instability."

Watch video to learn more of the explosions that ripped apart the Shia celebration of holy Ashura at Huseni Dalan - killing one person and injuring at least 40 others