5-day Durga Puja holiday begins today

The holiday begins on Tuesday and will continue until Saturday, allowing public sector employees to enjoy five consecutive days off.

The government has approved October 22 as an additional public holiday, extending the Durga Puja break. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Secretariat on October 5.

According to the official holiday calendar, October 20 and 21 were already designated as public holidays for Durga Puja. Government offices were originally scheduled to reopen on October 22.

However, with the approval of the additional holiday on October 22, employees will now enjoy an uninterrupted five-day break from October 20 to 24. October 23 and 24 fall on Friday and Saturday, the regular weekly holidays for government offices.

Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community, is being celebrated across the country with religious rituals and festivities at temples and temporary mandaps.

According to the festival calendar, Mahalaya was observed on October 10. Maha Shashthi falls on October 16, followed by Maha Saptami on October 18, Maha Ashtami on October 19, Maha Navami on October 20 and Bijoya Dashami on October 21.

The extended holiday is expected to provide government employees with an opportunity to spend more time with their families and participate in the festivities.

Government offices are scheduled to resume regular operations after the five-day break, on Sunday, October 25.