The five-day Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu festival, will come to an end Friday with solemn immersion of the Goddess Durga across the country.

Devotees will throng Puja mandaps to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, the last day of the festival, recite the mantras, offer flowers to the goddess Durga (pushpanjali) and pray for her blessings.

The mandaps across the country have been decorated with beautiful idols, showcasing the goddess in all her glory.

BijoyaDashami is the special ceremony of reaffirming peace and good relations among people.

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On this day, families visit each other to share sweetmeats. Married Hindu women put vermilion on each other's forehead on the occasion.

This year, the religious festival is being celebrated at some 32,118 puja mandaps throughout the country, including the capital.

In the capital, thousands of people are set to throng the Buriganga tomorrow to observe the final phase of the festival -- the immersion of the goddess Durga.

Devotees in their tearful eyes will 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.

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Meanwhile, there will be strict security measures in place so that Durga Puja ends peacefully.
The five-day festival started on October 11 with the incarnation (Bodhon) of the Goddess Durga marking Sashthi.

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.