Festivals of Pahela Baishakh, Bangla New Year


Pahela Baishakh is the first day of the Bangla year. Pahela Baishakh is celebrated in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. In Bangladesh Pahela Baishakh is a national holiday. Pahela Baisakh falls on April 14 or 15.
                                                             Pahela Baishakh, Our rich cultural sign

Every year you will find Bangladesh absolutely come to life as its people flock to the streets to enjoy the merriment of the Pahela Baishakh festival. It has been a very prominent part of Bangladeshi culture for so long that no one today can pinpoint the beginnings of these festivities to a particular period in time.
                                                         It's a festival for all

From history of the Indian subcontinent we see that at Mughal period, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, the agricultural year does not coincide with the fiscal. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor 'Akbar' ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bangla year on the basis of the lunar Hijri and Bangla solar calendars. The new Fasli San(agricultural year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar's ascension to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently became known as 'Bangabda' or Bengali year.

Celebrations of Pahela Baishakh started from Akbar's reign. It was customary to clear up all dues on the last day of Chaitra. On the next day, or the first day of the new year, landlords would entertain their tenants with sweets. On this occasion there used to be fairs and other festivities. In due course the occasion became part of domestic and social life, and turned into a day of merriment.

The main event of the day was to open a halkhata or new book of accounts. This was wholly a financial affair. In villages, towns and cities, traders and businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones. They used to invite their customers to share sweets and renew their business relationship with them. This tradition is still practised, especially by jewellers.

                                                         Baishakhi Fair


Special foods are prepared to entertain guests. Baishakhi fairs are arranged in many parts of the country. Various agricultural products, traditional handicrafts, toys, cosmetics as well as various kinds of food and sweets. are sold at these fairs. The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers and dancers staging jatra, pala gan, kavigan, jarigan, gambhira gan, gazir gan and alkap gan. They present folk songs as well as baul, marfati, murshidi and bhatiali songs. Narrative plays like laily-majnu, yusuf-zulekha and Radha-Krishna are staged. Among other attractions of these fairs are puppet shows and merry-go-rounds.
                              Panta Rice with Hilsha Fish & various spices

                                                   Dressed up with Baishakhi Sharee

Observance of Pahela Baishakh has become popular in the cities. young women wear white sarees with red borders and adorn themselves with bangles, flowers, and tips. Men wear white pyjamas or dhoti and kurta. Many townspeople, start the day with the traditional breakfast of panta bhat(cooked rice soaked with water), green chillies, onion, and fried hilsa fish.

The most colourful new year's day festival takes place in Dhaka. Massiv numbers of people of all types gather early in the morning under the banyan tree at Ramna Park where Chhayanot (famous Rabindra Song learning institute) artistes open the day with Tagore's famous song, Eso he Baishakh eso eso (Come O Baishakh, come), welcoming Baishakh. This has become a part and parcel of Pahela Baishakh celebration. The program  starts with the sunrise and continues with all patriotic & inspirational songs all day long. A similar ceremony welcoming the new year is also held at the Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.
                                               Songs sung by the Chhayanot artists

Students and teachers of the institute take out a colourful procession and parade round the campus. Social and cultural organisations celebrate the day with cultural programmes. Newspapers bring out special supplements. There are also special programmes on radio and television.
                               Colorful Procession by the Fine Arts Students




Information used from: 
http://www.bangladesh.com
http://www.banglapedia.org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Othello Syndrome

Image
Introduction & Characterization The Othello syndrome was named by the English psychiatrist John Todd (1914-1987) in a paper he published with K. Dewhurst entitled "The Othello Syndrome: a study in the psychopathology of sexual jealousy" (Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorder, 1955).  The eponym “Othello syndrome” originates from Shakespeare’s tragedy in which the protagonist’s jealousy over his wife’s supposed infidelity ultimately leads him to commit spousal homicide. It refers to a content-specific delusion characterized by the fixed false belief that one’s partner has been or is being unfaithful. Men are diagnosed with Othello syndrome more often than women. Patients with Othello syndrome ascribe personal meaning to benign events, misinterpreting the behavior of others to provide confirmatory evidence for their delusions. Delusional jealousy is also known as erotic jealousy syndrome, morbid jealousy, Othello psychosis, or sexual jealousy. Othello syndrome
Read more

Lyrics : The Heart Won't Lie by Vince Gill and Reba McEntire

Image
Looking back over the years Of all the things I've always meant to say But the words didn't come easily So many times through empty fears Of all the nights I tried to pick up the phone So scared of who might be answering You try to live your life from day to day But seeing you across the room tonight Just gives me away [Chorus:] Cause the heart won't lie Sometimes life gets in the way But there's one thing that won't change I know I've tried The heart won't lie You can live your alibi Who can see you're lost inside a foolish disguise The heart won't lie Long after tonight Will you still hear my voice through the radio Old desires make us act carelessly Long after tonight, after the fire After the scattered ashes fly Through the four winds blown and gone Will you come back to me You try to love your life from day to day But seeing you across the room tonight Just gives me away
Read more

The Bauls

Image
Mystic singers, wandering minstrels, the Baul of Bengal preserve one of the oldest and fascinating Indian Subcontinent tradition.  Bauls constitute both a  syncretic  religious sect and a musical tradition. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects.  Born from the meeting of different religious expressions, such as Tantrism, Buddhism, Sufism, Vaishnavism & Islamism  puts man at the very centre of universe. T hey consecrate their existence to dance, music and singing, conveying intimate joy, universal brotherhood, discovering of divine in man's heart.  Though Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the  culture of Bengal  is considerable. Baul  Song is almost exclusively performed by  Bauls  (hermits) who are followers of  Sufism  in Bangladesh. (Note that traditionally  bauls   were Hindus; Sufism was started following the lifestyle of Lalon Shah.) In Bangladesh, in the early days of Bauls who claimed to be Muslims
Read more