& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Durga Puja starts today 22,000 mandaps set up

Staff Correspondent
The five-day long Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of Hindus begins today through the Mahashashthi puja.
Around 22,000 mandaps have been set up in the country including 165 in Dhaka on the occasion.
Leaders of Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad said the govern ment has taken adequate measures
FROM PAGE 1
to ensure security at the Puja Mandap areas in the city.
The Mahashashthi puja begins at 9:58am across the country, following Bodhon preparations.
Durga Puja is observed in sync with the moon's movement. The fortnight long puja begin as the Mahalaya marks the homecoming of the goddess a week before Bodhon.
The five-day long festivity and prayers begin on the sixth day of the full moon phase and ends on the Dashami or tenth day.
Goddess Durga, the slayer of Mahishashur, is lion-borne and wields an array of arms including kripan, chakra, gada, and bow and arrow in her ten hands.
The goddess descends on earth today -- the Mahashashthi, accompanied by her children Ganesh, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati, at the invocation and supplication of the devotees and stays on earth for the next four days. The days this year are Mahasaptami on Monday,
Mahanabami on Wednesday and Bijaya Dashami onThursday.
On Bijaya Dashami, goddess Durga leaves the earth - on a Dola (palanquin) this year -- after slaying all evil forces and blessing the devotees. On this day devotees pray for her appearance on earth again after a year and also ask for forgiveness
from her.
Preparations are already set for the event. Devotees will assemble at the mandaps today and make offerings to the goddess Durga. These offerings will later be distributed among people.
The main Puja mandap in the capital is at Dhakeshwari National Temple. Large mandaps have also been built at Jagannath Hall of Dhaka University, the Ramkrishna Mission, Ramna Kali Mondir, Siddheshwari Kali Mondir, Tanti Bazar, Shankhari Bazar, Bangla Bazar, and at Mohakhali and Farmgate.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbojoneen Puja Committee yesterday at a press conference at Dhakeshwari National Temple alleged that idols of the Goddess Durga had been desecrated at various places in the country including Gopalganj andNarsingdi.
They urged all to keep vigilance to maintain communal harmony during the five-day-long festivities. They also urged the government to step up security measures and ensure peaceful observation of the occasion.
Chief adviser of Mahanagar Sarbojoneen Puja Committee Major Gen (retd) CR Dutta (BU), Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad president Prof Nim Chandra Bhowmik and its general secretary
advocate Sattyendra Chandra Bhakta, Mahanagar Sarbojoneen Puja Committee's president Kajal Debnath, its general secretary advocateTapash Kumar Pal, its vice presidents Swapan Kumar Saha and Biresh Chandra Saha and joint secretary Nirmal Chatterjee spoke to the press on the occasion.
Leaders of Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad, Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad, Mahanagar Sarbojoneen Puja Committee and Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Moitree Parishad and some other organisations in different statements greeted the countrymen on the occasion of Durga Puja.