Bagerhat: Preparations for celebrating Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community, are going on in the district, aiming to hold the country’s biggest puja with 701 idols.

Sculptors have been working day and night to properly shape the idols as the clay-works are almost finished in mandaps (stage where idols are placed) of the district, reports the UNB.

The religious festival will begin with ‘Mahalaya’ on October 9 while the ceremonies will take place from October 15 to October 19.

For the past eight years, Liton Sikder, a businessman from Hakimpur village of Khanpur union, has been holding the biggest Durga Puja in Bagerhat and South Asia as well.

The number of idols increases during the festival every year and this year the total number stands at 701.

Bijoy Krishna Bachar, a local sculptor, said 15 sculptors have been working for the last five months to make the idols of deities from four ages depicted in the pantheons of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The works are at the final stage and the colouring of the idols is going on in the full swing, he added.

Locals are happy that their Hakimpur village has earned fame for ‘Sikder Barir Puja’.

Liton Sarkar, joint general secretary of Bagerhat District Puja Celebration Committee, also lauded the festivity of ‘Sikder Barir Puja’ and said over 600 mandaps have been set up in nine upazilas of the district.

Superintendent of Bagerhat Police Pankaj Chandra Roy said police have taken all the necessary preparations to ensure security during the Durga Puja in the district.

Tapan Kumar Biswas, Deputy Commissioner of Bagerhat district, said security at mandaps of the district will be tighter than previous years.

He also said organisers will have to remain alert so that no unpleasant incident can take place during the festival.