Marking the 134th death anniversary of the legendary poet, philosopher, and mystic Fakir Lalon Shah, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) recently organized the three-day Lalon Festival, and now the academy has published the festival's expenditure details on its website. The festival took place at BSA’s National Theatre Hall from October 17–19. According to BSA’s official gazette, the total expenditure for this year’s Lalon Festival is Tk 6,80,611. Adviser Farida calls for preservation of Lalon’s songs for future generations The gazette revealed that the expenditure for the pre-event press conference was Tk 9,400, while the cost for the inaugural day of the three-day festival was counted as Tk 1,22,700. Hosted by the BSA Fine Arts department, the festival kicked off with the program titled 'Ashasindhu Teerey' on October 17 by Sharmin Murshid, Adviser to the Ministry of Social Welfare and Women and Child Affairs. The total expenditure for day two of the festival was Tk 2,57,250, while the concluding day's expenses was Tk 3,00,161. The academy, which also broadcasted the festival live on its official Facebook page simultaneously, has also revealed the total number of festival-goers and virtual audiences, stating that the event was watched by more than 80,000 in total.

Devotees from the Hindu community thronged various puja mandaps in the port city on Thursday, marking the first day (Mahasaptami) of Durga Puja celebrations and creating a festive atmosphere throughout the city. People from all age-groups—children, teenagers, and senior citizens—were crowding at the puja venues wearing new and colourful clothes. An evening tour to some of the major puja venues, including the Jatra Mohan Sen Hall, which still stands in Chattogram bearing witness to a century of the port city's history, revealed a vibrant presence of Hindu devotees. Crowds were also seen in Ramakrishna Mission, Kaibalyadham, Hazarigali, Gosail Danga, Kusumkumari High School and Cheragi Pahar. “Durga Puja is the worship of nature, aimed at upholding truth and beauty. While it may outwardly appear to cater to a specific community, its deeper significance is a universal celebration for the well-being of all,” Kanu Kumar Das, Assistant Professor at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), told UNB. "May this great puja bring prosperity, harmony, and friendship to all and the motherland... this is the prayer of puja I offer from my heart," said the architect and city planner who is celebrating this festival together with his friends and family members. General Secretary of Chattogram Metropolitan Puja Celebration Parishad Hillol Sen told reporters that Anjali was offered at the puja mandaps at noon and there was quite a crowd of devotees then. "Volunteers are deployed at each venue for security. Besides, each mandap is covered by CC cameras. The crowd of visitors has increased since the evening," he said. Earlier in the afternoon, Disaster Management and Relief Adviser Farooq-e-Azam visited the Puja mandap at Kusumkumari High School in the city. Senior government officials were present. Meanwhile, Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Haseeb Aziz visited some puja mandaps in the city on Thursday morning to see the overall security of Durga Puja.