Shyama Puja (Kali Puja) and Diwali, the second-largest religious festival of the Hindu community, are being celebrated across the country today, Sunday (November 8), with various programmes.

The festival is observed every year on the new moon day of the Bengali month of Kartik.

Final preparations are underway at temples and puja mandaps across the country to worship Goddess Shyama, the deity of strength and peace. The festival atmosphere has spread among members of the Hindu community as households make arrangements for the occasion.

Kali Puja and Diwali hold special significance in Bengali culture and religious tradition. While the festival is known as ‘Deepabali’ among Hindus in Bangladesh, non-Bengali Hindus commonly call it ‘Diwali’. It is also known as ‘Deepannita Kali Puja’.

For centuries, Hindus have been observing the festival with the hope of dispelling darkness, symbolising evil and misfortune, and ushering in goodness and prosperity. Bengali, Assamese and Odia Hindus celebrate Kali Puja on the new moon day of Kartik.

According to the almanac, the new moon phase begins at 1:02 pm today, Sunday, and will end at 11:58 am tomorrow, Monday.

Kali Puja rituals generally begin around midnight. Many devotees also perform Lakshmi Puja on the same lunar occasion. In the evening, Hindus light lamps at their homes and cremation grounds in remembrance of their departed parents and relatives.

Various temples and puja mandaps in the capital have made preparations for the festival. These include Dhakeshwari National Temple, Ramna Temple, Ramakrishna Mission and Math, Siddheshwari Kali Temple, Shri Shri Baradeshwari Kalimata Temple in Sabujbagh, Radhagobinda Jeu Thakur Temple in Old Dhaka, Postogola Mahashmashan, and temples and mandaps in Tantibazar, Shankharibazar and Banglabazar, among others.