The minority Hindu community in Bangladesh started celebrating its biggest religious festival, Durga Puja, on Sunday.

The annual festival celebrates the Hindu Goddess Durga, worshipped by her devotees as the mother of the universe.

On Sunday, worshipers flocked to illuminated shrines in Dhaka as priests conducted 'Aarti', a Hindu ritual of waving a flame in front of the deity.

Celebrations continued on Monday as devotees gathered to offer prayers with feasts, music and dance to celebrate the victory of good over evil.

Probir Krishna Saha, 46, and his family worshipped the mother goddess on Monday at a temple in Dhaka.

“Durga Puja in Bangladesh means celebrating together, building brotherhood together," said Saha.

"Through the worship of the Goddess, we receive strength, and we share that strength with everyone through love."

Hindu groups in Bangladesh, who make up nearly eight percent of the country's 170 million people according to the 2022 census, say there have been thousands of attacks against Hindus since August last year, after the secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown.

Rajib Kundu, a Dhaka resident and organizer of a temporary shrine for Goddess Durga, said the tensions over minority concerns in Muslim-majority Bangladesh have led to religious polarization in the country.

“I feel that while in the past it was seen as a universal festival, now it is regarded only as a Hindu religious celebration. We need to come out of this kind of mindset,” Kundu said.

"Only then will we be able to reintroduce and expand Durga Puja as a universal Bengali festival in Bangladesh."

The festival, also being celebrated across India, will end on Thursday.

AP video by Al Emrun Garjon