The five-day Durga Puja. the biggest festival of the Hindus, ended yesterday with the immersion of idols in the rivers and sea across the country.

Devotees bade a solemn farewell to their deity Durga and her children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh through immersion of the

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Idols in water after inviting her to return to them next year.

In the morning, Bijoya Dashami -- the last day of the festival -- was celebrated at around 22,000 puja mandaps across the country. The last day of the puja asserts reaffirming peace and good relations amongst people. Families visit each other to share sweetmeats during the Dashami festivity.

In the capital city, thousands of men, women and children joined the traditional Idols immersion procession. The procession, comprising with 62 trucks carrying 32 idols of Durga, was brought out from Palashi near Dhakeshwari National Temple.

It ended at Waizghat after parading through different city streets. In the evening, the idols were immersed in the Buriganga amid sadness and tears.

The government took tight security measures through out the five-day long festival. Members of different law enforcement agencies escorted the procession and stayed with them till the immersion of the idols was completed.

A large number of law enforcers including the Rapid Action Battalion stood guard over the puja mandaps.

Nirmal Chatterjee, joint secre-tary of the Mahanagar Sarbajaneen Puja Committee, said around ten thousand people participated in the procession. Hindu community leader CR Dutta and Nim Chandra Bhoumik among others, attended the immersion procession.

Idols from around 40 Puja Mandaps of the city were gathered at Shankhari Bazar Puja Mandap and then immersed into the Buriganga at Ganaktuli.

Durga Puja is the worship of 'Shakti' or divine power embodied in Devi Durga. It symbolises the battle between good and evil where the dark forces eventually succumb to the divine forces.

The day was marked with a public holiday. On the occasion, President Prof Dr lajuddin Ahmed and his wife Prof Dr Anwara Begum hosted a recep-tion for the Hindus at Bangabhaban yesterday.

The state-run and private television channels and radios aired special programmes while newspapers published special supplements to mark the festival.

In Chittagong, devout Hindus immersed the idols in the Bay of Bengal along the Patenga sea beach in the port city amid a security cordon effected by Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) and Rab.

Thousands of devotees from all corners of the city, carrying the idols gathered along the beach and immersed the Durga idols.

Leaders of different political parties, social, cultural organisations and members of the civil society greeted the Hindu community on the occasion. They also visited different puja mandaps across the country.