Saraswati Puja at Dhaka University celebrated

City Desk :

Hindu students are conducting Aarti, a ritual of oil lamps and bells, and Pushpanjali, or floral offerings, at different Puja venues In Jagannath Hall ground of Dhaka University to seek the blessings of goddess Saraswati, the goddess of learning and music.
This year, a total of 76 pandals or Puja venues have been erected around the grounds by students from different departments and institutes of the university.
Of them, 74 pandals have been built around various “themes” reflecting academic disciplines and social perspectives.
Students, teachers and visitors were seen thronging every pandal since Friday morning, reports bdnews24.com.
The formal rituals of Saraswati Puja began at 8:30am on Friday with Bani Bandana and Pushpanjali, and concluded around 10am.
Like other years, the Puja is being observed in a peaceful environment, said Jagannath Hall Provost Prof Debashish Pal.
“The Puja is being held very peacefully this year. However, the turnout since the morning is something I have never experienced. Initially we kept two gates open, but later had to open another due to the huge crowd.
With such a massive gathering, I believe this year’s Saraswati Puja at our hall will find its place in the Guinness Book of World records.”
Like every year, the Faculty of Fine Arts has crafted an eye-catching idol to be placed in the middle of the hall pond.
At the same time, Dhaka University students are celebrating the Puja with grandeur by setting up elaborately decorated pandals based on diverse themes.
Raja Talukder, a student of the Department of Management, told bdnews24.com: “Like every year, Saraswati Puja at Jagannath Hall has been organised with much pomp and grandeur.
With the gathering of thousands of devotees, we spend the day amid much festivity. This year, however, there is something special-it is set to be recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Hearing this has created a lot of excitement among us.”
“Traditionally, on the Shukla Panchami Tithi or Basanta Panchami in the Bengali month of Magh, we worship Saraswati to seek knowledge. Today we pray that Goddess Saraswati blesses everyone with learning and that the light of knowledge spreads across the world. May all living beings be happy.”
Reflecting on the “mob culture” that has emerged in Bangladesh since the July Uprising, students of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism have built a pandal highlighting the issue.
One of the organisers, Dhaka University student Shrabasti Bandyopadhyay, told bdnews24.com: “We did not just talk about stalled pens or burnt newspapers. We wanted to speak out against all forms of oppression-from the untouchable Harijans to tea garden workers whose last ounce of life energy is spent while they are denied fair wages, and to the innocent children lying dead under rubble in Palestine. Through all of this, we tried to convey a message: no war, peace; not mobs, but justice.”
Students of the Department of Finance have built a pandal themed around the “universe”.