GAIBANDHA, Oct 20, 2023 (BSS) - The five-day Durga Puja, the greatest religious festival of the Hindu Community, began today here with festivity and religious fervour.

District Puja Celebration Parishad secretary Sudev Kumar Chowdhury said a total of 639 puja mandaps have been erected in all the seven upazilas of the district this year. 

Of the total, some 100 mandaps have been erected in Sadar upazila, 147 in Sundarganj, 137 in Gobindaganj, 108 in Sadullapur, 62 in Palashbari, 68 in Shaghata and 16 in Fulchhari upazila of the district, he said.

The whole district has taken a festive look as the Hindu devotees including men, women, boys, girls, youths and adolescents attired in fine dresses are thronging different puja mandaps to have a look at goddess Durga and seeking the blessing from Mother Durga.

The greatest festival will end on October 24 through the immersion of idols of Mother Durga in different water bodies after celebrating the Bijoya Dashami by the Hindu community.

Initiative has been taken to provide uninterrupted power supply to the puja mandaps at nights to enable the Hindu devotees in offering their prayers, puja, archana, kirtons, arati and other religious rituals, said executive engineer of NESCO here Md. Ashif. 

To celebrate the festival peacefully in the district a large number of law enforcers including RAB, police and ansar-VDP have been deployed in and around the puja mandaps and they are also patrolling the roads to maintain the law and order situation under control, said superintendent of police Kamal Hossain. 

Talking to the BSS, acting district relief and rehabilitation officer Md. Jewel Miah said the district administration distributed 319.5 tonnes of rice among the puja mandaps through district and upazila administration to assist the Hindu community to celebrate the festival peacefully.