Maha Ashtami today

The Hindu community will celebrate Maha Ashtami today, the third day of the five-day Durga Puja festival, with thousands of devotees expected to visit puja mandaps to worship Goddess Durga.
Devotees observed the extended Maha Saptami on Sunday, as the tithi fell across two days.
President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir visited the Ramna Kali Temple mandap that day and exchanged views 
with members of the Hindu community, highlighting Bangladesh’s long tradition of communal harmony.
“We can say with great conviction and in a strong voice that I know of no other place in the world where communal harmony exists as it does in Bangladesh,” he said.
He added that while conflict, violence and hatred prevailed in many parts of the world, members of the Sanatan community in Bangladesh were able to celebrate Durga Puja peacefully.
Extending greetings on the occasion, the President said the festival was one of the major religious celebrations of the Hindu community and conveyed messages of justice, peace, harmony and human welfare.
“Demons have emerged repeatedly in this country, and the people of Bangladesh have defeated them,” he said.
Recounting the history of Ramna Kali Temple, he said attempts were made to destroy it in 1971 before it was demolished in 1973. The temple was rebuilt in 2001 at the initiative of Babu Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and on the instructions of then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. Efforts have since been made to restore its former heritage.
Maha Ashtami is considered one of the most significant days of Durga Puja, marking Goddess Durga’s victory over Mahishasura, the buffalo demon. According to Hindu belief, the goddess kills the demon on this day. Devotees fast, recite hymns and offer flowers to seek her blessings.
A major attraction is Kumari Puja, or the worship of a prepubescent girl as a living embodiment of the goddess. The ritual will be held at Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission in the capital and elsewhere across the country.
According to Hindu scriptures, an unmarried girl, generally between one and 16 years old, who has not attained puberty and possesses auspicious qualities may be worshipped as a manifestation of the goddess. The selected girl is bathed early in the morning, dressed in new clothes and adorned with vermilion on her forehead, alta on her feet and flowers in her hands. Seated on a decorated throne, she is worshipped through Shodashopachara, a ritual involving 16 offerings.
The ritual is associated with Sri Ramakrishna, who taught that the divine feminine is especially manifested in a pure-hearted young girl and that Kumari Puja helps devotees realise the motherly aspect of the Divine.
In earlier times, buffaloes were sacrificed to the goddess, but bananas, pumpkins and cucumbers are now used in their place in many observances.