Kumari Puja held at Ramakrishna Mission to the sound of conch shells and ululation, thousands of visitors throng in Habiganj
Photo: Collected
Kumari Puja has been held in Habiganj amid religious rites and solemnity. The puja was organised at the Ramakrishna Mission in Habiganj town at 9:30am on Monday.
On the day, the Kumari Ma was seated in due time on a decorated seat and worshipped. The surroundings resounded with conch shells, ululation and hymns to the mother. Centring on the puja, the mandap and the surrounding areas took on a festive mood. Thousands of visitors thronged there.
Meanwhile, security arrangements were tightened across the district for the Kumari Puja. Along with the deployment of a large number of police, SRB-Ansar members were in the field. Special arrangements were also made to keep the mandap area free of traffic congestion. Along with CCTV cameras at the mandaps, surveillance by plainclothes police was increased.
Swami Bedamayananda, the head of the Habiganj Ramakrishna Mission, said Durga Puja and Kumari Puja have been held at this mission for 105 years. Besides those from Habiganj, many visitors come to the puja from the neighbouring districts.
Background
According to a BSS report of 30 September 2025, at the Kumari Puja at the Habiganj Ramakrishna Mission last year, six-year-old Utsa Chakraborty of Chirakandi village was worshipped as the goddess and was given the name ‘Malini Kumari’.
The district angle
A report of 9 October 2026 in Shomoyer Alo, citing the Habiganj district unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, said Durga Puja is being held at 663 mandaps in the district this year.
According to the upazila-wise count in that report, the largest number of mandaps is in Baniachang with 122, followed by 115 in Madhabpur municipality and upazila and 90 in Nabiganj municipality and upazila; the number of mandaps in Habiganj municipality is 35.
According to a BSS report of 16 October 2026, the number of mandaps across the country this year is 33,851.
Source
Background sources: BSS, 30 September 2025; Shomoyer Alo, 9 October 2026; BSS, 16 October 2026
