Maha Navami today

Maha Navami, the fourth day of the five-day Sharadiya Durga Puja festival, is being observed across Bangladesh on Tuesday with religious rituals, prayers and special worship at temples and puja mandaps nationwide.

Devotees are observing the day in accordance with traditional Hindu rites, including the Bihita Puja, a prescribed set of worship rituals. Some temples are also scheduled to perform animal sacrifices as part of their religious observances.

Following the Kalparambha and Bihita Puja rituals, devotees will offer flowers at the feet of Goddess Durga. In the evening, hundreds of lamps are expected to be lit as worshippers offer prayers to the goddess. The evening arati, or ceremonial worship with lamps, will also mark the final such ritual of this year's celebrations.

Maha Navami traditionally carries a sense of impending farewell, evoking deep emotions among devotees as the festival draws to a close. Alongside prayers and religious observances, a touch of sadness accompanies the celebrations, as Goddess Durga is scheduled to return to her celestial abode through immersion on Wednesday.

According to traditional beliefs, Goddess Durga arrived this year riding a horse and will depart by boat. Hindu scriptures and popular religious traditions regard both modes of arrival and departure as inauspicious.

However, devotees remain hopeful that sincere worship and devotion will help overcome negative forces and usher in peace and well-being.

As the festivities approach their conclusion, Maha Navami offers devotees an opportunity to renew their prayers and reflect on the triumph of good over evil, the central theme of Durga Puja.