C T Online Desk: Maha Saptami, the second day of the five-day Durga Puja of the Hindu community, is being celebrated with much enthusiasm on Thursday.
In temples across the country, including Dhakeshwari National Temple in the capital, the Saptami Puja rituals started early in the morning.
Thousands of devotees were seen absorbed in prayer, chanting with the priests to praise Goddess Durga.
The day’s rituals will continue with further prayers, viewing the goddess, offering Anjali at her feet, and distributing Prasad or sacred food to the devotees, according to the organizers.
On Ashtami, the rituals of Kalparambha and Bihit Puja will be performed.
On Friday, Kumari Puja will take place at 9am at Dhaka’s Ramakrishna Mission.
In this ritual, devotees worship a young girl, symbolizing the pure form of the goddess. The key attractions of Ashtami are the Kumari Puja and Sandhi Puja.
The formal celebrations of Durga Puja begin on Wednesday, with the final day, Dashami, falling on Sunday, October 13.
On Dashami, with the immersion of idols, Durga Puja will conclude. In light of this, Sunday is also a government holiday.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Administration has issued a notification extending the holiday for the Durga Puja, the largest religious festival for the Sanatan community, by one day.
In a notification signed by Deputy Secretary Md Kamruzzaman on Tuesday, the government declared the nationwide public holiday on Thursday through an executive order in light of the upcoming Durga Puja.
The notification specifies that during the public holiday, all government, semi-government, autonomous, semi-autonomous, and private offices will remain closed.
Following the extension, the Durga Puja holidays will now last four days, starting Thursday.
This extension comes as Friday and Saturday are already government holidays this month.
