Today, the Hindu community celebrates Maha Navami, the fourth day of Sharadiyo Durga Puja, by conducting anjali and puja to Goddess Durga and by offering pumpkins, bananas, and cucumbers as sacrifices at temples and temporary mandaps all around the nation.
According to the home ministry, the Puja is being held this year at 33,355 mandaps under strict security arrangements.
According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), there are 254 Puja Mandaps in the capital city that are celebrating Durga Puja.
As the five-day celebration draws to a close tomorrow on the last day of Bijaya Dashami with idol immersion, temples and mandaps will see the greatest number of devotees and tourists today.
On Navami, Dunuchi Nach draws the special attraction as this is one of the most exciting rituals of the Durga Puja. Clay pots are filled with smoking charcoal. Some people take the pot in their hands and start dancing. The daredevils try to balance the clay pot on their heads. Some who wish to be even more adventurous attempt to hold the pot by their teeth! Earlier the dhunuchi nach was performed only by men.
However, nowadays women are also emerging as dhunuchi dance experts.
On Maha Navami, Goddess Durga is worshipped as Mahisasuramardini which means the Annihilator of the Buffalo Demon. It is believed that on Maha Navami day Goddess Durga killed the demon Mahishasura. Maha Navami is the penultimate day of Navratri, and it is dedicated to worshipping the goddess Durga, who is believed to have manifested her full divine power by this day. It is also the day when Durga is believed to have defeated the buffalo demon Mahishasura, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. In the morning, devotees performed different rituals and prayers to honor the goddess Durga as Maha Navami puja was offered. Navami puja typically follows a specific sequence, involving the recitation of mantras and the offering of various items, such as fruits, sweets, incense, and lamps. In different temples, animals are sacrificed on this day as an offering to the goddess.
Temples and mandaps have been illuminated and decorated gorgeously marking the puja as some puja pandals were portrayed in different themes signifying different aspects of life and religious stories. Temples and puja mandaps are now witnessing recitation of verses from the Holy Sri Sri Chandi, blowing of conch shells and beating of traditional dhak-dhols (traditional drums), kashor since Friday and it will continue for next days until immersion of idols on the day of Bijoya Dashami on October 24. Bangalee Hindus might have a plethora of festivals (baaro maaashe tero parbon or 13 festivals in 12 months) but Durgotsab remains the queen bee. Puja will be given in the morning on tomorrow, the last day of Bijaya Dashami, along with Darpan Bisharjan.
Dhakeshwari National Temple, Ramkrishna Mission and Math, Kalabagan, Banani, Shakhari Bazar, and Ramna Kali Mandir are the principal places to perform pujas in the capital city of Dhaka.
Large-scale Durga Puja celebrations are also taking place in district towns including Faridpur, Dinajpur, Jashore, Kushtia, Netrakona, Tangail, and Satkhira, as well as in key divisional cities like the port city Chattogram, Narayanganj, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Sylhet.
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