<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000;">Mahalaya festival was celebrated across Bangladesh on Wednesday with devotion and piety. Special puja programmes were organised across temples in the capital city Dhaka and other cities of Bangladesh. Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee  organised a programme marking the  Mahalaya at Dhakeshwari National temple early in the morning to observe Mahalaya. <br />''<br />''High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami visited the Dhakeshwari temple early in the morning to pay respect to the goddess Durga on Mahalaya.<br />''<br />''Mahalaya was observed at other prominent locations of Dhaka. At the Banani Puja Mandap in Dhaka, a special programme was organised at dawn time. The Loknath Brahmachari Ashram and Mandir also held a ceremony where clothing was distributed among the poor people. Eminent persons and ministers like the Food Minister Sadhan Majumder and Pankaj Debnath, MP were present during the programmes in Dhaka. <br />''<br />''Durga Puja festivities in Bangladesh will start from 11th October on the sixth day of the Puja with 'Bodhon'. It will conclude with Vijayadashmi on 15th October marking the end of the Pujo. <br />''<br />''It is the most important festival of Hindus of Bangladesh which is celebrated on a large scale across the country. According to Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad the number of Durga Puja mandaps across the country has increased by almost 2000 from 30,213 last year to 32,118 this year. The number of puja mandaps in Dhaka is 238 which is four more than last year. </span><br />