The five-day Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community, concluded on Wednesday with the immersion of the idols of goddess Durga and her children amid great festivity.
According to the Hindu religion, Durga returned to her husband, Lord Shiva's house at Kailash through immersion.
Earlier, mother deity Durga was bidden farewell by Darpan Bisharjan in temples at 8:50am.
The grand festival ended on Wednesday night with celebrations of Sindur Khela in daytime, immersion of idols in the evening at nearby rivers or ponds and exchanging Bijaya greetings among devotees across the country.
Temples across the country, including Dhakeshwari Mandir or the National Temple, Ramna Kali Temple, Siddheswari Kalimandir witnessed huge gathering of mainly female devotees clad in colorful dresses including white saree with red borders.
With the beat of the folk instrument the female visitors were performing Sindur khela, a significant part of Bijoya Dashami celebrations. Males also join this ritual nowadays with giving colors to faces of other devotees or participants.
Sindur Khela, literally meaning 'vermillion game', is a Hindu tradition of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh where women smear each other with sindur on Bijaya Dashami, the last day of the Durga Puja.
‘The next after the conclusion of the worship ritual, married Hindu women apply sindur on the forehead and feet of the goddess and offer sweets to her,’ said Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee President Monindra Kumar Nath.
In the morning, Dashami puja was offered at temples and makeshift mandaps while Darpan Bisarjan was held before immersion of idols.
Darpan Bisarjan ceremony conducted on Bijaya Dashami day is the "real immersion" as it is beloved that the divinity that had been breathed into the Devi idol at installation, slowly leaves the idol, said purohit (priest) Sadhan Chakrabarty.
‘After the ritual, colourful processions to the riverside followed by Bisarjan or Niranjan of Devi idols are spectacular as all the devotees enjoy,’ he added.
Marking Dashami, colorful processions were brought out from temples and makeshift puja mandaps and later Devi idols were immersed in nearby rivers, ponds or water-bodies.
Bijaya Dashami was a bittersweet day as goddess Durga and her children are taken out of their earthly abode or the pandal for Bisarjan or immersion in the river.
This indicates her return to Mount Kailash. Devotees often shout "Aschhe bochhor abar hobe" (Durga Puja will return next year again).
In the past, the idols were carried on bamboo structures. However, nowadays the idols are transported in trucks or pickup vans to riverbanks and then they are placed in a boat and taken to the middle of the river for immersion.
After immersion of idols, young members of the family touched the feet of the elders to seek blessings. Some hugged each other (kolakuli). Sweets such as chomchom, kalojam, sandesh, narkeler naru (mounds made of coconut and jaggery) were distributed on this day.
In the capital Dhaka, the main puja mandaps were at Dhakeshwari National Temple, Ramkrishna Mission and Math, Kalabagan, Banani, Shakhari Bazar and Ramna Kali Mandir.
In major divisional cities including port city Chattogram, Narayanganj, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet and district towns including Faridpur, Dinajpur, Jashore, Kushtia, Netrakona, Tangail, Satkhira also witnessed massive celebration of Durga Puja.
Durga Puja was celebrated at 32,408 mandaps across the country this year including 245 in the capital, according to Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (BPUP).
BPUP General Secretary Prof Chandranath Poddar said the country witnessed Durga Puja celebrations at 32,168 mandaps including 241 in the capital last year.
Stringent security measures were taken across the country during the celebration of Durga Puja to avert any untoward situation.
Amid tight security, idols from puja mandaps in and around the capital were immersed into the Buriganga and the Turag.
In Chattorgram, immersions were held in the city's Patenga and Khalurghat beach areas of theport city in the afternoon despite inclement weather with presence of a large number of people of the community.
This year, as many as 293 puja mandaps were erected in the city and 2175 in 15 upazilas of the district, police said.