Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community, began on Wednesday at temples and makeshift mandaps across Bangladesh with religious fervour and festivity. The celebrations started with the invocation of Goddess Durga on the day of Maha Shasthi.

Bangladesh is celebrating Durga Puja from October 9-13 and has extended general holidays in the wake of the festival. However, unprecedented violence against Hindus after Sheikh Hasina's ouster and threats by radical Islamic groups has cast a shadow over the celebrations.

Bangladesh extended Durga Puja holidays to four days, responding to the Hindu community's demands following attacks after Sheikh Hasina's resignation.

Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community, has begun at temples and makeshift mandaps across the country amid due religious fervour and

The Hindus in Bangladesh will celebrate Durga Puja in a subdued manner this year to register their protest against attacks on the community following Sheikh Hasina's ouster, according to minority leaders.

More than 600 people, including Hindus, were killed during violent protests in Bangladesh culminating in the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, according to a UN report.

The main chapter of Durga Puja, the biggest annual festival for Bengali Hindus, has kicked off amid the beats of drums, conch shells, and bells in Bangladesh. The Shashthi Puja rituals began with the setting of a water-filled pot beneath a bel tree at 9:10am on Wednesday.

Bangladesh government has announced the addition of holidays for Durga Pooja, and the residents of Dhaka are optimistic about the celebrations

Bangladesh is set to celebrate Durga Puja, the largest Hindu festival in the country, from October 9 to 13, with high security amid tensions. The celebrations will be held in 32,666 pavilions of Bangladesh,

The statement from the US comes in the wake of increasing attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh following the resignation of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her escape to India in August.