The first phase of three-day Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest Muslim congregation after the Hajj, will begin on the bank of River Turag at Tongi in Gazipur from January 10 next year.

After concluding the first phase, the second phase of the 55th Bishwa Ijtema will begin from January 17.

The Akheri Munajat seeking the peace, prosperity, brotherhood and the welfare of the Muslim Ummah separately would take place at the end of the Ijtema, said a source close to the Ijtema preparation committee on Wednesday (Dec 4).

On behalf of the Ijtema preparation committee and the administration, the necessary field preparations work aiming to hold the Ijtema, the largest religious gathering organised by the Bishwa Tablig Jamaat, is going on full swing for the last one month.

“Hundreds of volunteers including teachers, students, professionals and common people are voluntarily participating in the works for preparing the Ijtema ground every day from dawn to dusk”, said an organiser M Mamunur Rashid of the Ijtema preparation committee.

The volunteers are working for building a tent with cloth and bamboo pillars, construction of Katcha toilets, installation of utility services and road construction at the Ijtema ground, he said.

Earlier, the preparation works of Ijtema Maidan were formally begun from November 4 while State Minister for Youth and Sports M Zahid Ahsan Russel inaugurated these.

The government has already extended all the cooperation for holding the religious event peacefully, said the State Minister, adding that the Awami League government has set up a total of 13 deep tube wells surroundings of the Ijtema ground for the last 11 years.

Noted Indian Islamic scholar Mawlana Illyus Akhter Kandhalovi introduced the Ijtema in 1920. The Bishwa Ijtema has been taking place on the bank of River Turag in Tongi since 1967.