Devotees aboard a boat look at the idol of Goddess Durga after being immersed in the Buriganga river, on the last day of Durga Puja festival celebrations in Dhaka, Bangladesh on October 13, 2024. Photo courtesy: Reuters
Huge crowd celebrates in Muslim-majority Bangladesh The biggest Hindu festival of the year amid tight securityafter a Flood of attacks against minorities After the removal of the autocratic Prime Minister.
Kanphodu dancers dance to loud music for Durga Puja on Sunday, a joyous finale to a week of prayer and partying for Hindu devotees in the South Asian country, home to less than a tenth of its 170 million people.
“We pray for a better and inclusive Bangladesh,” said Saurav Das, 34, who works in a private company and came to the capital’s packed Dhakeshwari Hindu temple with his wife and family.
This year, the colorful celebration is a defiant expression of faith as the Hindu community was hit by the chaos that followed the student-led revolution and the Prime Minister was forced to flee.
Sheikh Hasina fled by helicopter on August 5, and was granted shelter by old allies, the Hindu nationalist government of powerful neighboring India.
Ms Hasina’s 15-year rule witnessed widespread human rights abuses, including mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
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‘auspicious occasion’
In the chaos that followed, some Bangladeshi Hindus and Hindu temples were targeted in attacks, as some were believed to have supported Ms Hasina’s now-ousted government.
The attacks were condemned by the new caretaker government and its leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who visited the Dhakeshwari temple on Saturday to celebrate with Hindus on what he called an “auspicious occasion”.
On Sunday, there was tight security around the Dhakeshwari temple as police and armed forces stood guard.
But Hindu worshiper Das said everything was “good”. “Initially we were a little worried because there were several incidents across the country, but now it looks better,” he said.
The festival commemorates how Goddess Durga, the slayer of fierce demons, comes from the snowy peaks of the Himalayas to her home, where she lives with her husband, the destroyer-god Shiva.
Celebrating good over evil, this festival marks the killing of the buffalo demon Mahishasura by the Goddess.
At the center of the activity are brightly lit “pandals” – a canopy made of colorful cloth hoisted on bamboo poles – featuring intricate clay idols of the goddess and her children.
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The clay idols were painstakingly prepared and painted in bright colors for several weeks, later immersed in the sacred waters flowing into the sea at the conclusion of the festival.
Brishti Saha, a 24-year-old student, had come with her younger sister to pray to the goddess and said she had asked her to protect Bangladesh.
“We pray to him that the country remains safe,” Ms Saha said. “As long as the country is fine, all is well.”
‘from the heart’
At the temple, devotees had their photographs taken with the painted idol of Durga while young women danced.
“Jai Ho Durga!” He chanted mantras.
Ms. Saha said that the situation in the city is different from that in rural areas. “Personally, I don’t feel any insecurity because I live in a city,” she said.
“But some people in rural areas are a little worried about these incidents.”
But Kajol Debnath, 77, one of the founders of Dhaka’s Puja Utsav Parishad, said “sporadic incidents” in recent months have not affected the grand party.
He said Bangladeshis from all religions and politics had come together to celebrate an “inclusive” festival.
“We say, religion belongs to individuals and festivals belong to everyone,” Mr Debnath said.
“Political parties and various social groups came and helped us organize the puja this year,” he said, adding that he wanted to continue it in the future as well.
“We hope this remains a statement from the heart, not just a show.”
published – October 14, 2024 01:14 am IST