Durga Puja
Keep vigil against vandalism during Durga Puja: Obaidul Quader asks AL members
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Friday urged leaders and workers of the party to remain vigilant against any attempt at disrupting celebration of Durga Puja.
He made the call at a meeting with the puja celebration committee and Sanatan religious leaders at the political office of the Awami League president in Dhanmondi.
Read: Benazir directs police to ensure impenetrable security during Durga Puja
Awami League's Liberation War Affairs Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das, Cultural Affairs Secretary Asim Kumar Ukil, Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, Office Secretary Barrister Biplab Barua, Information and Research Secretary Salim Mahmud were present at the meeting.
Quader said that Awami League is determined to build a non-communal Bangladesh.
Later, Awami League General Secretary attended a discussion meeting organized by the relief and social welfare sub-committee of the party on the occasion of Bangabandhu's daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's birthday at Bangla Academy in the capital.
Quader said that Hasina was born to suffer like her father Mujib.
Mentioning the name of Sheikh Hasina, the most prominent Bengali and honest, courageous and efficient administrator in Bangladesh after Bangabandhu, Quader said that Sheikh Hasina is the epitome of transformation.
Read: DMP commissioner orders ensuring maximum security during Durga Puja
Awami League presidium member Begum Matia Chowdhury presided over the event while Awami League presidium member Abdur Rahman, Bangla Academy Director General poet Muhammad Nurul Huda, Dhaka University Bangla Department Chairman Professor Dr. Syed Azizul Haque, Bangla Department Professor Dr. Bhismdev Chowdhury, Awami League Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandy spoke at the event.
Later, Obaidul Quader distributed educational materials and one-time merit scholarships among meritorious students of Bengali Department of Dhaka University.
Trade via Banglabandha land port to remain suspended for 10 days
Bangladesh’s export-import activities with India, Nepal and Bhutan via the Banglabandha land port will remain suspended for 10 days, on the occasion of Durga puja and Eid-e-Miladunnabi, port authorities said on Friday.
Banglabandha Import-Exporter Group and Phulbari Exporters and Importers Welfare Association of India have taken the decision to keep trading via the land port shut from Friday to October 9.
Port authorities said that export-import activities among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan through the Banglabandha land port will resume on October 10.
However, the movement of travellers through the land port will continue as usual, said Banglabandha immigration checkpost officer-in-charge Nazrul Islam.
Police prepared to thwart any possible militant attack: DMP Commissioner
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam on Thursday said police are ready to thwart any possible militant attack during the Durga Puja celebration.
The DMP Commissioner came up with the remark while talking to reporters after inspecting security measures taken for Durga Puja at Dhakeshwari temple in the capital on Thursday.
Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community, will begin from Saturday (October 1) with various rituals on the day of Maha Shashthi and will end on October 5 with immersion of idols.
Durga Puja will be held at 32,168 mandaps (pandals), including 241 in the capital city, across the country this year.
Trade via Sonamasjid land port to remain suspended for 8 days
Export-import activities between Bangladesh and India via the Sonamasjid land port will remain suspended for eight days, on the occasion of Durga puja, port authorities said on Thursday.
Abdur Rashid, general secretary of Sonamasjid Land Port C&F Agents Association, said that trade activities will remain closed from Friday to October 7, including weekly holidays, on the occasion of Durga puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.
Port activities will resume on October 8, he said. However, loading and unloading activities of imported goods at the port will remain normal during this period.
Durga Puja: Nagad offers up to 20% discount on shopping
On the occasion of Durga Puja in 2022, mobile financial services provider Nagad has come up with a cashback or discount of up 20 percent in three categories at over 50 brand outlets.
They will enjoy cashback or discount on Nagad payments in the lifestyle, e-commerce, and restaurant categories, according to a media statement.
Customers may receive up to 20 percent instant cashback in the lifestyle category while shopping from brands such as Baby Shop, Top Ten, Rise, K Kraft, Anjans, Raw Nation, Rang Bangladesh, Bishwa Rang, Sailor, Cat's Eye Limited, and Sara Lifestyle.
Read Mastercard credit card bill payment: Nagad offers up to Tk 400 cashback
They will receive the cashback if they make the payment at selected merchant outlets using Nagad Merchant QR or Nagad Merchant Pay options.
Also, they can enjoy up to 50 percent discount on online shopping while making payment through SSL Gateway. The offer is available at online brands in various categories, including apparel, furniture, and electronics. It will be valid till October 5.
Nagad is also offering up to 20 percent instant cashback on payments at selected sweets and food stores.
Read Durga Puja fervour grips Bangladesh
Besides Durga Puja shopping, customers can enjoy this offer at many restaurants, including Well Food, Classic Sweets, Banglar Sweets, Cake Story, and Banker's Cafe and Restaurant. The cashback or discount offer on Nagad payments will be available till October 30.
Hindus celebrating Mahalaya
Hindus across Bangladesh are celebrating Mahalaya, the auspicious occasion that heralds the advent of Goddess Durga, today.
Considered as a ceremonial invocation of Goddess Durga, Mahalaya is observed a week prior to Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.
Hindus believe the earth prepares itself and welcomes the coming of the Goddess and her children, through the celebrations.
Read:Disappointment in Bagerhat as Shikdar Bari avoids large-scale Durga Puja celebration for third year running
Durga Puja will begin on October 1 on the day of Maha Shashthi. Goddess Durga will come to the earth (Martyalok) riding an elephant (gaja) through the Maha Sashthi Puja this year.
On Mahalaya, the Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee has arranged special programmes at Dhakeshwari Temple from 6am.
On this day, Hindus remember and pay homage to their deceased ancestors by performing a puja, and offering Brahmins clothes, food and sweets in their names.
This year there will be 32,168 Puja mandaps across the country.
Installation of CCTV cameras has been made compulsory at all puja mandaps ahead of Durga Puja to ensure security, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
Read:Durga puja: A festival that unites Bangladesh!
To ensure security at the puja mandaps, additional forces of law enforcement agencies will be deployed as per necessary.
Besides, Durga Puja organisers have been told to deploy volunteers to ensure security. The authorities concerned have been asked to provide wristbands to volunteers that will help the police to identify them.
Disappointment in Bagerhat as Shikdar Bari avoids large-scale Durga Puja celebration for third year running
Preparations for celebrating Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community, are going on in Bagerhat with the famous ‘Shikdar Bari Durgotsob’ in limited scale like the last two years following Covid pandemic.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the elaborate puja celebrations organised by the Shikdar family will be on a limited scale for the third consecutive year to protect the rituals, said Shishir Shikdar, member of the family's Shikdar Bari Durga Puja organising committee.
Like the visitors and Hindu devotees, the organisers are also upset because the grand celebration of Durga Puja is not being organised on a large scale. But provided that the pandemic tapers off, from next year Durga Puja will be organised on a large scale like before, Shishir added.
Read: Durga puja: A festival that unites Bangladesh!
The Tradition of Shikdar Bari’s Durga Puja
In 2011, Dr Dulal Krishna Shikdar introduced the grand celebration of Durga Puja with 251 idols at his ancestral home Hakimpur village of the Bagerhat Sadar upazila.
He wanted to raise society's awareness of the value of practicing sanatana dharma (traditional religion, or Hinduism) through the grand puja.
Since then, the number of idols of gods and goddesses has been increasing there every year.
In 2019, Durga Puja was organised with 801 idols of gods and goddesses on the Shikdar Bari Puja mandap.
The celebration became more vibrant and different every year to spread the festival among people of all religions.
Around autumn with the fragrance of Shiuli in the air, millions of visitors and devotees from all over the country, regardless of caste and religion, flock to the spectacular Shikdar Bari’s puja mandap.
The preparations for the celebration of Shikadar Bari Durga Puja ran almost throughout the year. The artisans started making idols six to seven months in advance with straw and clay. Idols were decorated with different colors and different types of ornaments, both local and foreign.
Three months before the puja, the workers would be busy with decoration and lighting work.
Various gods and goddesses of Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yuga were arranged in this puja mandap as companions of Mahamaya Goddess Durga.
Eminent industrialist Liton Shikdar, son of Dr Dulal Krishna Shikdar, was organising the festival with his own initiative.
Unfortunately, this traditional Durga Puja is being organised in that puja mandap to protect the religious rituals in a limited scale.
Bengali Hindus to celebrate Mahalaya Sunday
Hindus across Bangladesh will celebrate Mahalaya, which heralds the advent of Goddess Durga, Sunday.
Considered a ceremonial invocation of Goddess Durga, Mahalaya is observed a week before Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of Bengali Hindus.
Hindus believe the earth prepares itself and welcomes the coming of the Goddess and her children through the celebrations.
Durga Puja will begin on October 1 on the day of Maha Shashthi.
Special programmes of Mahalaya will be arranged at different temples across the country, including the capital, tomorrow.
On this day, Hindus remember and pay homage to their deceased ancestors by performing worship services, and offering Brahmins clothes, food and sweets.
Also read: Durga puja: A festival that unites Bangladesh!
Durga Puja: CCTV installation must at puja mandaps, says home minister
Installation of CCTV cameras have been made compulsory at all puja mandaps ahead of Durga Puja to ensure security, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
Durga puja will be celebrated across the country from October 1 to October 5 and this year there will be 32,168 Puja mandaps across the country, he said while talking to reporters after a meeting held at the Secretariat over law and order situation for ensuring smooth celebration of Durga Puja.
Talking over the security arrangement, Asaduzzaman, said, “We have taken decisions to ensure security at the puja mandap and additional forces of law enforcement agencies will be deployed as per necessary.”
Also read: Shahjahanpur murders: Perpetrators not to be spared
Besides, Durga Puja organisers have been told to deploy volunteers to ensure security. The authorities concerned have been asked to provide wristbands to volunteers with which police can identify them.
Ansar members will be deployed and arrangements will be taken for them.
Replying to a question about untoward incidents that happened in Cumilla last year, during Durga Puja, the minister said, “If we think that there is a need to take special security measures then we’ll definitely go for it. Security personnel will patrol the big mandaps.”
Read The struggle for Bangladesh's secular soul
Besides, the patrolling team will also take steps to prevent stalking, drug use and any untoward incident at the mandaps, he said.
People have been asked to make emergency phone calls to 999 to avail any kind of services from the law enforcement agencies, he added.
Referring to the traffic congestion, Asaduzzaman, said steps will be taken to ensure smooth traffic management and a team will keep monitoring social media and rumours, and take action.
Read No doubt govt behind communal violence: Fakhrul
He also urged the authorities concerned to arrange two gates for female and male visitors.
The struggle for Bangladesh's secular soul
As Bangladesh prepared for the largest religious festival of the Hindu community earlier this month, communal violence spread in several parts of the country after news emerged on social media about the alleged desecration of the Quran at a Durga Puja site in Cumilla.
The recent incident and its ripple effects elsewhere have resulted in insecurity, and frustration among Hindus who make up 10 per cent of Bangladesh's population, suggesting that the road to non-communalism and pluralism is still far away for Bangladesh.
Although security was heightened across the country, Bangladesh saw spates of communal violence, which led to at least eight deaths, scores of injuries, and thousands of arrests during the puja celebration.