Autumn In Bengal :

န Kolkata and Dhaka, 7 September :

(L) Shoppers are seen at busy shopping area ahead of this month's Durga Puja festival in Kolkata. The forthcoming Durga Puja festival is scheduled to take place in the last week of this month.

(R) Customer look around a jewellery shop at the Bashundhara City Shopping Complex in Dhaka on Monday as Eid and Durga pujo shopping starts picking pace.

န Photos : AFP and Firoz Ahmed

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Westside woos with amazing offers in this Durga Puja

Kolkata, 7 September : Westside is all set to usher in Durga Puja with special offers across its stores in Kolkata. “From 29 August to 28 September, Westside gives you the opportunity to win amazing gifts while enjoying an eclectic shopping experience of festive goodies at the stores,” said a company release Monday.

Smeeta Neogi, Head- Marketing, Westside, said, “Durga Puja is an occasion of fanfare and lots of excitement in Kolkata. Westside is joining in the celebrations and giving customers an opportunity to rejoice in the festive season with a gamut of attractive offers.”

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Buddhists celebrate the "Pang Lhabsol" festival :

န Rabangla, 4 September :
A Buddhist woman spins prayer wheels at Manelhakhing monastery in Rabangla town. Buddhists in the region will celebrate the "Pang Lhabsol" festival on Friday by offering the first harvested fruit of the season to Lord Buddha and Mountain Khangchendzonga to get their blessing for peace and prosperity.

န Photo : Reuters

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Special trains on Eid-ul-Fitr
BSS, Dhaka, 4 September : Bangladesh Railway (BR) will run seven pairs of special trains on various routes on the occasion of holy Eid-ul-Fitr. The special trains would be introduced three days before the Eid to help the homebound passengers reach their destinations smoothly.
The routes to get special trains are: Dhaka-Dewanganj, Dhaka-Mymensingh, Chittagong-Comilla, Chittagong- Chandpur (two pairs) and Joydevpur-Santahar. Bangladesh Railway Additional Director General (Operations) Kazi Asadullah said the special trains on the Joydevpur-Santahar route will carry the working people, particularly garment workers, along with general passengers.Besides, additional compartments would be added to inter-city, express, mail and other passenger trains. The inter-city trains will ply on weekly holidays too.

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Bangladesh Tourism rides on Eid & Durga Puja spirits

A night-time view of a restaurant in Cox's Bazar, a popular destination for Eid vacationers.

Cox's Bazar, 1 September : Advance bookings for hotels and airlines have piled up, as local travellers prepare to celebrate Eid at tourist destinations both at home and abroad. Industry insiders hope the domestic tourist flow will increase this year, as most people are likely to get a weeklong holiday, when Eid and Durga Puja, the two major religious festivals, will be observed back to back.

But outbound travels may falter due to a looming scare of swine flu. The tourism industry boomed in the past decade, fuelled by a growing habit of the urban middle-class to travel during festivals, supported by their financial solvency. This year, the number of tourists, mainly outbound travellers, might be deterred by the swine flu threat, he said. “The global tourism industry is soon likely to face the consequences of swine flu as it spreads." Industry leaders said tourists on the home front would mainly head towards Cox's Bazar and the Chittagong Hill Tracts to celebrate Eid, as the peak time to go to the Sundarbans is yet to come. Most hotels and resorts in Cox's Bazar, the country's main tourist destination, are already fully booked in advance, said industry people. Motel Shoibal, the biggest motel of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation in Cox's Bazar, has been booked in advance for a week after Eid. “Usually, the rush of tourists begins by mid-October. Nevertheless, we are fully booked because of the long Eid and Durga Puja holiday this year,” said Sujit Barua, general manager of the motel.There are around 200 hotels, motels and guesthouses in Cox's Bazar providing both five-star and budget accommodation. န Photo : STAR, AP

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