Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community, began on Friday with Maha Sashthi puja at temples across the country.

A mood of festivities persists among the devotees irrespective of ages marking the festival while adequate security measures have already been taken in the puja pandals across the country.

The five-day festival starts with 'Bodhon' of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi while the festival will come to an end with the immersion of the idols of the Goddess Durga in the nearby rivers and water bodies across the country on October 24.

In the capital Dhaka, the main puja mandaps are at Dhakeshwari National Temple, Ramkrishna Mission and Math, Kalabagan, Banani, Shakhari Bazar, and Ramna Kali Mandir.

Major cities, including port city Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Sylhet and district towns including Faridpur, Dinajpur, Jashore, Kushtia, Satkhira, are expected to witness massive celebrations.

Durga Puja will be celebrated at 32,408 mandaps across the country this year including 245 in the capital, according to Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (BPUP).

Earlier, on October 16, Police Headquarters issued an advisory to the Hindu community for the smooth celebration of Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Hindu community in the country.

The law enforcers have urged the Hindu community to remain aware about those involved in spreading rumour in the social networking sites including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in a bid to harm religious harmony.

It also asked the puja organisers to set up separate entry ways for female and male devotees.

It also asked to ensure CCTV cameras and fire extinguishers and established archways in important puja Mandaps.

In any emergency, PHQ asked to call the police headquarters, DMP control room or Rapid Action Battalion control room.

The control room numbers are—01320001299, 01320001300, 01-55102666, 02-223381188, 02-47119988, 01320037845-46, 02-48963117 and 01777720029.