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Durga Puja from Sunday

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
The five-day Durga Puja, the greatest festival of the Hindus, will begin on Sunday and the preparations of the Puja Mandaps have been completed to let hundreds and thousands of devotees across the country start their celebrations.
The Hindus believe Durga, worshipped as the goddess of supreme power, will come to earth on Sunday this year and stay for four days.
Official sources said as many as 22,000 Puja Mandaps have been put up across the country including 145 in the capital. However, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad said around 18,000 Puja Mandaps have been put up in the country including 142 in
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the capital.
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar at a meeting said special security has been arranged for around 19,000 Puja Mandaps across the country so that the October 9-13 festival can be celebrated peacefully. The government has formed a monitoring cell and opened a control room to ensure security following press reports and allegations of insufficient security at Puja Mandaps, he added.
"We have formed a social coordination committee with local legislators, chairmen, members, commissioners and devotees of both Hindu and Muslim communities at every Puja Mandap to ensure peaceful celebrations of the greatest religious festival of Hindus," said Mosharef Hossain Shajahan, state minister of religious affairs, at a press briefing yesterday.
The minister, who is also the chairman of the Hindu Religious Welfare Trust, urged all to maintain communal harmony during the festival.
Goutam Chakraborty, state minister of water resources and the vicepresident of Hindu Religious Welfare Trust, said, "We have already directed Puja committees not to use musical
instruments and loudspeakers during Iftar, Tarabi prayers and Sehri."
The government has allocated Tk 30 lakh and 42,000 metric tons of rice as grants for 22,000 Puja Mandaps across the country, he added.
At the press briefing, Hindu Religious Welfare Trust Secretary Mangal Chandra Chanda said 19799 Puja Mandaps were put up last year, 17834 in 2003, 17,282 in 2002 and 16,181 in 2001.
Official sources said, Shashti Puja will be held on Sunday, Mahasap-tami on Monday, Mahastami on Tuesday, Mahanabami on Wednesday and Bijoya Dashami on Thursday.
The main Puja Mandap in the capital will be at Dhakeshwari National Temple. Large Puja Mandaps have also been put up at Jagannath Hall of Dhaka University, Ramkrishna Mission, Ramna Kali Mandir, Siddheswari Kali Mandir, Tanti Bazar, Shankhari Bazar, Bangla Bazar and at Mohakhali and Farm Gate areas.
Meanwhile, several political, social and cultural organisations felicitated the Hindus yesterday on the eve of the festival. They also condemned the attacks on the Puja Mandaps and damage to the Durga idols across the country.