Devotees perform ablution for prayers at Ijtema venue in Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Feb. 15, 2019. The largest annual Muslim congregation after holy Hajj began Friday morning in Bangladesh with religious sermons for devotees from home and abroad. (Xinhua/Stringer)

DHAKA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The largest annual Muslim congregation after holy Hajj began Friday morning in Bangladesh with religious sermons for devotees from home and abroad.

The grand prayer at the four-day congregation called Biswa Ijtema on the bank of the Turag river at Tongi, some 25 km north of capital Dhaka, will be held on Monday, seeking divine blessings and welfare of all mankind.

Like previous years, a large number of foreign pilgrims attended the second phase of the congregation which began Friday after Fazr (morning) prayers with religious sermons for the devotees, seeking world peace for the Muslim ummah.

To ensure safety and security of the devotees and maintain law and order, thousands of members of different law-enforcing agencies have been deployed in and around the 60-hectare Ijtema ground, the main venue of the congregation.

Observation towers have been set up at different strategic points to oversee people's movement.