The annual Hindu festival of Durga Puja is held in India to worship Goddess Durga and commemorate her triumph against Mahishasur as per legends. West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, and Tripura, are among the Indian states where the festival is celebrated on a large scale, though there are other states also where Durga Puja is significant. While Indians living abroad have given Durga Puja an international touch, the festival is a celebrated in a big way in Bangladesh also as the country has a good number of Bengali Hindus citizens.
It's just a few more days to go for the onset of Durga Puja, and just like Bengal, Bangladesh is also gearing up for the festivities and to welcome Goddess Durga. Preparations are going on in full swing in Bangladesh, and sculptors are busy giving final touches to the idols of Durga, according to a Prasar Bharati report from Dhaka.
According to the report, sculptor Pratul Paul, like every year, is working overtime to deliver idols to different pandals. The number of orders is big, and he expects to earn a total of 80,000 to 1,00,000 taka this year. Paul had made fourteen idols last year. Compared to that, the number is less this year as he is working on 11.
Besides Dhaka, his idols will be delivered to Faridpur, Barisal, and a few other locations also. He said inflation has increased the cost of raw materials maniforls, but he plans to continue practising the craft like his ancestors.
"The price of all the raw materials are increasing day by day, but there is not improvement in our situation. We are still in the same situation as before," Paul was quoted as saying. "It has been three years since my father passed away. But, since I have been doing this work since childhood, this is how I feed my family."
His sentiments were echoed by other idol makers in the country.
"I am charging Tk40,000 for an idol but that is not enough to make our both ends meet," Sukumar Paul, a sculptor in Faridpur district, was quoted as saying in a Dhaka Tribune report. Bishwajit Paul, annother sculptor in Beleshwar of Faridpur, charges Tk50,000 for each idol "but margins have shrunk because of rising prices of raw materials".
Security Arrangements In Place
One of the key locations for the celebration of Durga Puja is the Ramna Kali temple. Thousands of devotees from all across Bangladesh come to the temple to see the Durga idol.
The largest event celebrated by the Hindu community in Bangladesh is Durga Puja. In keeping with the tradition, more than 32,000 puja mandaps (pandals) are being constructed across Bangladesh this year, according to the Prasar Bharati report.
The pujas were marred by communal violence last year. While at least once incident of idol vandalism has been reported already this year, a Dhaka Tribune report said, the administration has promised to ensure presence of volunteers and police protection at all pandals during the festival.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam earlier this week asked the police to be vigilant round the clock. “Police will ensure tight security measures and remain vigilant so that the festival of the Bengali Hindus’ Durga Puja could be celebrated peacefully,” local media reports quoted him as saying.
“We all have to work hard during the puja so that no untoward incident can take place in the puja mandaps in the capital. Police will also perform their duties by staying at the puja mandaps,” he added.
Elsewhere also, the authorities have said there will be CCTV cameras at the mandaps to ensure security, and policemen both in uniform and in plainclothes would be deployed near all pandals to maintain law and order during the festival.