Idol immersion marks end of Durga Puja across Bangladesh

The five-day-long Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Sanatan community, concluded with idol immersion ceremonies on Thursday (October 2). From noon, idols were immersed in rivers across Dhaka and other parts of the country.

In the capital, security forces made special arrangements at 10 designated ghats along the Buriganga, Shitalakkhya and Turag rivers to ensure a peaceful immersion. Strict measures were taken to prevent any untoward incidents.

In Chattogram, huge crowds of devotees, worshippers and visitors gathered at Patenga sea beach after midday. Devotees bade farewell to the goddess with the beats of drums, ululation and conch shells. Similar scenes were reported from Cox’s Bazar beach, as well as Rajshahi, Sylhet, Rangamati, Khulna and all districts nationwide. No reports of unrest or accidents have emerged.

Earlier in the morning, devotees thronged mandaps to offer prayers, seeking relief from illness, grief and hardship. Rituals were completed with mirror and pot immersion, followed by sindoor khela, where Hindu women greeted the goddess with vermilion. Finally, processions carried the idols to immersion sites.

According to Hindu belief, every year in autumn, Goddess Durga descends to earth as a daughter from Mount Kailash. The five days of festivities, from Shashti to Dashami in the lunar month of Ashwin, celebrate her stay. With the immersion, the goddess returns to Kailash, leaving her devotees to wait another year.