Saraswati Puja celebrated
Hindu devotees seek the blessings of Goddess Saraswati, the personification of knowledge - arts, science and crafts, during Saraswati Puja at Jagannath Hall of Dhaka University yesterday.Photo: STAR
Hundreds of Hindu devotees and visitors from all walks of life celebrated Saraswati Puja at Dhaka University through traditional gaiety as elsewhere across the country yesterday, with prayers for wisdom and arts. As in the previous years, the Jagannath Hall playground wore a festive look with 52 colorfully decorated Puja mandaps (pavilions) that different departments of DU erected to offer prayers to Goddess Saraswati. Sujan Mandol, a student of mass communication and journalism, said his department also built a mandap to offer prayers seeking blessing of the Goddess for increase of wisdom. "Holding a book in a hand and a violin in the other, Goddess Saraswati is the image of the knowledge of arts, science, and crafts. Therefore, children of Hindu community, on the day, are taught how to read and write for the first time", said the hall priest, Bidhan Chakraborty. Students of the fine arts faculty installed a 35-foot-tall idol of Goddess Saraswati in the hall pond, which, they claimed, is the largest idol of the world made of jute. The Bani Archana, one of the vital parts of the Puja, was also performed at Begum Rokeya and Shamsun Nahar halls at the university. Saraswati Puja is performed on the Vasant Panchami day every year. Educational institutions remain closed on the occasion. Saraswati Puja was also celebrated at Dhakeswari temple, Siddheswari temple, Ram-Krishna Mission, Supreme Court premises and in many educational institutions, including Buet, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka Medical College, Stamford University, Dhaka College, and Eden Girls' College.
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