Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Bengali Hindus, has come to an end on Friday with the immersion of the Goddess Durga’s idols across the country in tight security.

According to the beliefs of the Hindus, the goddess Durga has returned to her husband's house at Kailash in Devaloy (heaven) through immersion.

In the capital, thousands of people thronged the Buriganga River today to observe the final phase of the festival -- the immersion of the goddess Durga.

In the afternoon, devotees from different parts of the city came to the ghat in trucks carrying idols by singing hymns to Durga with the sounds of age-old musical instruments such as ‘Shankha’, ‘Khol’, ‘Dhak’.

Devotees in their tearful eyes were seen to bid farewell to the mother deity and her children – Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh – through the immersion of their idols in the water wishing Durga’s return next year.

Devotees have been thronging Puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the festival, recite the mantras, offer flowers to the goddess Durga and pray for her blessings since Friday morning.

On Bijoya Dashami, Hindu families visit each other to share sweetmeats. 

As part of the main rituals of Dashami Puja celebrations, female devotees gave vermilion at the feet of Durga at mandaps and temples across the city, which is part of the traditional ‘Shidur Khela’. The ritual follows Hindu women putting the vermilion on each other aspiring for prosperity in lives, as a tribute to the power of Devi Durga.

This year, the religious festival was celebrated at some 32,118 puja mandaps throughout the country, including the capital. The mandaps across the country have been decorated with beautiful idols, showcasing the goddess in all her glory.

The five-day festival started on October 11 with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi amid strict security measures across the country.

Durga Puja, the annual Hindu festival also known as Sharadiya (autumnal) DurgaUtsab, is the worship of "Shakti" [divine force] embodied in goddess Durga. It symbolises the battle between good and evil where the dark forces eventually succumb to the divine.