Hindus celebrate Mahalaya

City Desk :
Hindus across Bangladesh are celebrating Mahalaya, the auspicious occasion that heralds the advent of Goddess Durga on Saturday.

Considered as a ceremonial invocation of Goddess Durga, Mahalaya is observed a week prior to Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.

Hindus believe the earth prepares itself and welcomes the coming of the Goddess and her children, through the celebrations.
Durga Puja will begin on October 20 on the day of Maha Shashthi, reports UNB.

On Mahalaya, the Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee arranged special programmes at Dhakeshwari Temple from 6am.

On this day, Hindus remember and pay homage to their deceased ancestors by performing a puja, and offering Brahmins clothes, food and sweets in their names.

This year there will be 32,407, Puja mandaps across the country, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday requesting the country’s Hindu community to keep the number of Puja Mandops limited considering security issues.