People of the Hindu community here on Thursday celebrated the Maha Saptami, the second day of the five-day Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the community, amid great enthusiasm and festive mood.
The religious festival was marked by arati, recitation from scriptures, distribution of proshad, offering devotional songs and bhajans.
A large number of devotees, both male and female, were seen visiting different puja mandaps to have a look at the decorated goddess Durga on Thursday.
The Durgotsob is being celebrated in 3,314 puja mandaps in all eight districts under the Rajshahi division in addition to 96 in Rajshahi city.
Shyamal Kumar Ghosh, Rajshahi city unit general secretary of Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, told the news agency that the Durga Puja is being celebrated in a festive mood.
Decorations of temples, lighting and setting up of mandaps have already given the city a festive look, he added.
Administrative and police officials, front ranking leaders of BNP and others concerned visited many Puja Mandaps on Thursday and exchanged pleasantries with the devotees.
The celebration will end through the immersion of idols of goddess Durga on Bijoya Dashami on Sunday.
Meanwhile, foolproof security measures were taken in the city and its adjacent areas to avert any untoward incident during the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community.
"We have adopted tight security measures to make the Rajshahi city's Durga puja celebration festive and successful," said Muhammad Abu Sufiyan, commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police.
Police administration of all the respective areas have chalked out necessary security measures to make the celebration a success, he added.
Officers-in-Charge of the police stations were asked to keep close contact with the puja committees round the clock.
Members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed at all the important points of the city.
Alamgir Rahman, deputy inspector general of police, said three-tier security measures have been adopted everywhere in the division.
