Durga puja, the largest religious festival of the minority Hindus, will culminate in Bangladesh, with the immersion of idols on Wednesday evening.

On the last day of the puja, devotees are thronging mandaps in Dhaka and elsewhere across the country for Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the grand festival, to celebrate the triumph of the Goddess Durga over the buffalo demon Mahishasura.

On this day, families visit each other and exchange sweetmeat. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other’s forehead on the occasion.

In Bangladesh this year, the religious festival is being celebrated at some 32,168 puja mandaps across the country, including 241 in Dhaka.

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

Devotees in their tearful eyes will bid farewell to the mother deity and her children — Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh — as the idols will be immersed, wishing the Goddess Durga’s return next year.

Meanwhile, there will be strict security measures in place so that Durga puja ends peacefully.

The five-day festival started on October 1 with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi.

Durga Puja, the annual Hindu festival also known as Sharadiya (autumnal) Durga Utsab, is the worship of “Shakti” (divine force) embodied in the Goddess Durga.

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

Meanwhile, president Abdul Hamid has greeted the members of the country’s Hindu community on the occasion.

In his message, president Hamid said that the main religious festival of the Bengali Hindu community is Durga Puja. ‘The country’s Hindu community has been celebrating the puja amid huge enthusiasm and festivity with different rituals since ancient times.’