Dhaka: The five-day Durga Puja, the greatest of all Hindu festivals, will come to an end today (Saturday) with solemn immersion of the Goddess Durga in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

Devotees are thronging Puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the festival and reciting the mantras and offering flowers to the goddess Durga (pushpanjali) and praying for her blessings.

Each of the mandaps across the country has been ornamented with beautiful idols, showcasing the goddess in all her glory.

Bijoya Dashami is the special ceremony of reaffirming peace and good relations among people.

On this day, families visit each other to share sweetmeats. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other’s forehead on the occasion.

The number of Puja pandals has increased this year as the number of Puja pandals is 29,395, including 231 in Dhaka city.

As many as 1,767 Puja pandals were set up in Chittagong while 1,242 in Dinajpur, 1,175 in Gopalganj, 737 in Faridpur, 752 in Comilla, 606 in Bagerhat, 126 in Chapainawabganj, 629 in Magura, 519 in Brahmanbaria, 647 in Jessore and 26 in Benapole.

In the capital, thousands of people are set to throng the Buriganga today to observe the final phase of the festival—the immersion of the goddess Durga.

The five-day festival started on September 26 with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi.

According to the government directives, the immersion of Durga’s idol should be done from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm on the day of Bijoya Dashami.

Durga Puja, the annual Hindu festival also known as Sharadiya (autumnal) Durga Utsab, is the worship of ‘Shakti’ [divine force] embodied in goddess Durga.

It symbolises the battle between good and evil where the dark forces eventually succumb to the divine.