BSS, Chittagong :
The Hindu community on Thursday observed Maha Ashtami through performing the day’s main attraction Kumari Puja in the port city as elsewhere in the district.
The Kumari Puja started at Shantoneshori Matri Mondir under Kotwali thana at around 12pm. The Goddess Durga is worshipped in various forms during the five-day Sharodiya Durgotsab and one of those is worshiping Kumari as an epitome of virginity.
Several thousand Hindu devotees assembled at the city’s lone Kumari Puja venue to welcome and worship goddess Kumari at the podium.
12-year-old Dipa Chowdhury, a class six student of city’s Patharghata girls high school, was worshipped as Kumari.
Devotees of all ages offered flowers at the feet of the Kumari , adored the girl with gold, silver and clothes, as part of their rites seeking blessings from the Goddess. The organisers also arranged cultural programmes on the occasion and later, Mohaprasad (sweets) along with anjali (flowers) was distributed among the devotees present there.
All puja mandaps have been given decorative looks with colourful designs and lights while additional law enforcers have been deployed in all the temples in the city to maintain law and order during the festival.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP), district police and Puja committee source said, there was no report of any untoward incident centering the Durga puja celebrations.
CMP sources said a five to seven-member team of law enforcers has been deployed at each Puja Mandaps and adequate numbers of police including Armed Police Battalions members have already been deployed at all vintage points particularly at Hindhu dominated area to maintain law and order.
Besides, plainclothes police men, members of the different intelligent agencies and RAB personnel will also keep vigil at the area. Besides, district and Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) have already opened separate control rooms at their respective headquarters to monitor the situation of 279 puja Mandaps in the port city and 1595 puja mandaps in the district.
