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Kali Puja or Shyama Puja, the second largest festival after Durga Puja of Bangalee Hindu community, is being celebrated in the old part of Dhaka especially in Shakhari Bazar and Tanti Bazar area on the second day on Monday with pomp and d,cor.
Kali Puja is also called Deepabali or Diwali, the festival of lights.
Shakhari Bazar and Tanti Bazar get invigorated with festivity whenever Kali Puja, Durga Puja, Laxmi Puja and Dol Purnima or Holi Festival appear.
Situated near the river Buriganga, the two Bazars stretches along a narrow lane, lined with thin slices of richly decorated brick buildings built during the late Mughal or colonial period.
The name of the area is credited to the Shakhari community, who have kept the craft of making and selling “Shakha” (a white bangle made out of conch shells) -- traditionally worn by married Hindu women -- alive for ages.
Kali Puja is the biggest celebration of this two bazaars as it is celebrated in as many as 100 puja pandals decorated and illuminated gorgeously and pandals kept for five to six days to allow the devotees and visitors enjoy the festival for a week.
The specialty of Kali Puja celebration in Shakhari Bazar and Tanti Bazar is that mandaps and pandals are erected above the narrow lanes from Shakhari Bazar to Tanti Bazar and visitors have to move under the mandaps to have glimpse of Devi Kali.
A massive number of crowds gathered since this evening as visitors are walking in long queue to sight the idols and pandals. Visitors even cannot stay standing for few minutes in front of any puja pandals as hundreds of other visitors stay behind them to sight Devi idols.
Small vendors like sweets, fuchka, chatpoti, tea stalls are also spending busy time to provide service to visitors at the entries of Shakhari Bazar and Tanti Bazar.
Permanent shops of beagles, shakha, sindur, tip, agarbati, earthen lamps, metal equipments are also making special sales during the puja.
Different songs are being played in loudspeaker making the atmosphere more festive while youths and children are bursting firecrackers.
Santos Sarkar, an organizer of a puja pandal, said this year puja pandals will be kept till Thursday and immersion of idols will be held for two days-one day for Tanti Bazar and other day for Shakhari Bazar. On the day of immersion, idols are taken on trucks and a procession is brought out inside the two lanes with the participation of hundreds of devotees with the beating of traditional drums. Then, devotees immerse idols in river in Buriganga.
Kali Puja, worshipping the Goddess of strength, wisdom and enlightenment, is celebrated at the night of Amavasya of the Bangla month of Kartik (October or November).
Amavasya Tithi started at 02:45 pm on Sunday and it ended at 02:57 am on Monday. Offering of puja to Goddess Kali started at temples from 10:00 pm on Sunday followed by offering of Anjali and distribution of prashad.
Devotees fast for all the day and offer ‘anjali’ to goddess Kali after the end of the puja at temples and makeshift mandaps around 1.00 am (Monday).
People then partake in the Bhog that is offered to the goddess.
Marking the festival, members of the Hindu community lit up earthen lamps (Pradeep) at their houses, temples and crematoriums in memory of their departed elderly persons.
Though Kali Puja or Diwali is a single day festival but idols and pandals are kept some places for more days traditionally to allow the visitors to enjoy it for long.
