These nine days across the world are charged with spiritual fervour as it is a time for worship, festivities, fasting and spiritual enhancement. The nine days of fasting and prayers culminate in Bijaya Dashami or Dussehra, the tenth day, which marks the victory of good over evil.

As possessive as we are of our culinary heritage, temple food is an excitement at a whole other level and definitely a notch higher in our domineering attitude to every dish in the roshui-ghor!

The impression of red in our prehistoric psyche is conceivably what we carry today. No child is born with a blank slate, or a palette. What we see, what we observe, and differentiate are based on footprints on our cells through thousands of years of evolution from a bestial existence to an intelligent form.

For the typical eye, it is easy to picture crowds of devotees lining up and crowding around Ma Durga during the auspicious autumnal festivities. A glimpse and a prayer to the divinity that visits this mortal plane once every year to cleanse off the dreadful, the dreary, and the disturbing — the figure that stands in all her ten-armed glory, riding the lion with a defeated Mahishashur.

Durga, the goddess who symbolises shakti, or power, is worshipped in this season as she visits the mortal plane to bless her followers. Yet, this is not her only form. From the legends and words of scholars, we find there are nine avatars of Durga, better known as Navadurga. These nine avatars are worshipped over the nine nights of the Durga Puja (aptly named Navaratri) mainly in various regions of India.

International tourist numbers grew 6.0 per cent in the first half of 2018, with southern Europe and southeast Asia posting the biggest growth, due to the upturn in the global economy, the UN World Tourism Organization says.

Hey, what's your star sign?

1 October marks the International Coffee Day, and Le Meridien Dhaka has been celebrating this day from the time it started way back in 2015.

Occurring annually, Durga Puja has always been one of the largest and most colourful festivals in Bangladesh. It marks the victory of Goddess Durga over the demon Mahishasura, after ten days and nine nights of battling him.

Keeping Durga Puja as their centre of focus, fashion house Megh has brought out panjabis and t-shirts for boys, kameez sets for girls and fatuas, frocks and t-shirts for younger children.

For this week, as Mahalaya is upon us and Durga has descended on this mortal plane on a horse, Star Lifestyle presents to you a quintessential fashion planner for the most festive four days of the puja.

Fashion brand Artizan now has a new collection of shirts, polo shirts, t-shirts, pants and panjabis. Made with comfortable fabric, the clothes ooze diversity in design.

When we think of October, besides the obvious never-ending heat and unforgiving bouts of rain, there is also Durga Puja to look forward to. The preparations start a month earlier with the changing architecture of the city, not just around the temples but everywhere else with mandaps (dias/stages) being erected and a festive feel sealing the air.

The festivities are upon us and fashion house Nipun is here to ensure no one falls behind the trend! Considering the blistering heat and comfort, they have incorporated fabrics like cotton, linen, joysilk and tant cotton.

Keeping up with the multilateral fashion trends of the younger generation, Cats Eye is all set with the best of their designs with better prices.

The Bangladesh Heritage Crafts Foundation, held a press conference on 30 September at Baridhara Diplomatic Enclave Club, followed by a two-day exhibition on 5 and 6 October at House 1B, Road 71, Gulshan-2, Dhaka-1212.

Whether it's a quick morning breakfast or a midnight snack, who doesn't love to find a bunch of ready-to-heat/fry/frozen goodies in their refrigerator.

Biting into one of these during meals has to be one of the worst feelings ever, yet it is found in pretty much every dish, sweet or savoury.

Fabrics include handloom cotton, linen, half-silk, endi-silk, endi-cotton, voile etc. Base colours are off-white, white, magenta, red, orange, golden yellow, blue, purple and many more.

Nothing turns a bad day into a happy one like a refreshing drink in a quiet corner of a café. Whether you want to spend a serene afternoon with your best friends, or whether you want to spend some quality time with yourself and a book on a rainy day, cafés are the perfect place to be.