- Title: Hindus in Bangladesh celebrate Durga Puja festival
- Date: 9th October 2016
- Summary: ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF WORSHIP IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 24th October 2016 10:51
- Keywords: Durga Hindu festival worship Goddess Bangladesh Kumari Puja
- Location: DHAKA, BANGLADESH
- City: DHAKA, BANGLADESH
- Country: Bangladesh
- Topics: Race Relations / Ethnic Issues,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA00453A8MZD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Thousands of members of Bangladesh's Hindu community gathered at a temple in the capital Dhaka on Sunday (October 9) to take part in a traditional ceremony worshipping women and girls.
The "Kumari Puja" ceremony is part of the festival known as "Durga Puja" - the biggest religious festival of Bengali Hindus.
In Hindu mythology, the goddess Durga symbolises power and the triumph of good over evil.
According to the religion, Durga visits the earth for a period of four days every year and during these days she is worshipped in various forms.
On Sunday, the form known as the "Kumari" or virgin form, was celebrated.
The colourful ceremony sees a young girl - aged between one and 16 - dressed up as the so-called "Kumari" and is worshipped by believers who make loud wailing noises to welcome her into the temple.
She then sits in front of an idol of the Goddess Durga as the ceremony takes place.
"In the Kumari, (young girl) we see the faces of our mothers and daughters so the main aim of this worship is to show the highest respect to women. So, I myself as a woman, I feel happy that I can honour other women and I want the position of women to always be honourable. We don't want to be repressed, we don't want to look back. We want to go forward," said one woman who was attending the ceremony. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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