Bangladesh Prepares for Pahela Baishakh - Bangla New Year adopted by Mughal Emperor Akbar
VognoDuut750
Staff Correspondent
The students and teachers of the Institute of Fine Art of Dhaka University
are getting prepared for celebrating Pahela Baishakh 1413, the first day of
Bangla New Year, amid much enthusiasm.
The students said they have already started preparation for the New Year
celebrations to give it an expected level of colour and festivity as the
people in the past years had lost attractions in fear of bomb blasts at the
festivals.
Some two hundred students of the institute are now working voluntarily
every day painting clay plates with local motifs, making masks of different
birds and animals, and painting watercolour and selling those for
fundraising to meet the expenses of the festival.
The estimated expenditure for the New Year celebrations is Tk 150,000 and
the institute authorities will provide a portion of the expenses and the
rest will be collected from selling the souvenir artefacts, said Bidhan, a
student painting clay plates on the institute's porch.
A number of teachers, including the institute director Farida Zaman and
noted painter Shishir Bhattacharya, are supervising the preparations and the
authorities have already given Tk 20,000 for the purposes, he said.
Alongside the students' effort, the teachers and alumni of the institute
have given their works in auction for raising funds. The auction will take
place in between April 8 and April 11 at the institute compound.
Along with the musical programme of Chhayanat at Ramna Batamul, the
festive procession from the Institute of Fine Art has become a tradition in
welcoming Bangla New Year.
Characters from Bengali folk culture are carried in the procession and
this year the students have selected tiger and horse symbolising the
boldness and spirit of people especially villagers across the country. Apart
from these, masks of owl and fish, and other motifs were also being
prepared.
The celebration was usually organised by the alumni and present students,
but a number of alumni avoided the past two celebrations saying that the
atmosphere at the institute was not conducive to a festive occasion due to
political interference.
In general, the preparations begin at least a month before Pahela
Baishakh, but this time it began keeping just ten days in hand. A student
said it was delayed for the fund constraints.
He said the past two celebrations were sponsored by corporate houses
which got criticism from a section of society, and many of the students and
teachers were against the sponsorship as it diverted the festival's main
goal.
Besides, there were allegations of financial irregularities in the past
years' celebrations which were sponsored by giant companies changing the
focus of the festival, another student said.
On second day of Baishakh, the students of the institute will stage a
jatra, Ashru Diye Lekha, on the institute premises. There will also be an
evening of baul songs at the institute's Bakultala.
The students said they are trying to arrange puppet show and install
ferris wheel and merry-go-round during the celebrations
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> Bangladesh Prepares for Pahela Baishakh - Bangla New Year adopted by Mughal Emperor Akbar
>
Emperor Akbar had the sagacity to realize that adopting a solar
calendar was a necessary condition to sync up the year with the
harvesting so that there is a fixed date when tax on agriculture
becomes due.
Akbar's solar calendar was essentially the traditional Indian calendar
with a year asigned artificially to it so that it had the same year as
the Hijra era (963) when Akbar had ascended the throne (1556 AD). It
had the traditional Indian months (Vaishakh thru Chaitra).
450 years have gone by. The year in a lunar calendar gets over a little
faster than in a solar calendar. Consequently the Hijra calendar has
marched ahead to the year 1427 while the Bengali calendar is at 1413
even though they were the same (963) in 1556 AD.
Torpedo
"VognoDuut750" <VognoD...@zilmore.com> wrote in message
news:dfednR9Jm5O...@comcast.com...
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nkdat...@bigmailbox.net
> Preparations on for Pahela Baishakh
>
[..... the essence of our culture that Baishakh embodies has come under
threat from some religious bigots who are bent on destroying the
history of tolerance and religious harmony in the country. These
obscurantist elements are preaching their own brand of skewed
philosophy to reap political benefits through creating anarchy in
society]
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/04/14/d60414020119.htm
Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Friday, April 14, 2006
EDITORIAL
Pahela Baishakh - A pledge to defend ethos
The day is looked upon as the harbinger of all that is pure and clean
for the people of the land, hence it is called Shuva Nababarsha or
happy New Year. Traditionally, it is considered that the rain and
accompanying wind in the month of Baishakh would wash away the
blemishes of the past year and usher in a new chapter in the lives of
the people that would turn out to be happy and prosperous. No wonder,
the day becomes an occasion of joy and merrymaking for Bengalees all
over the world.
But Pahela Baishakh is much more than simply a day of merrymaking. We
observe the day more as an occasion to uphold the Bengali culture,
tradition and heritage so that the innate ethos can be carried down to
our next generations. Through getting immersed in the traditional
celebrations we look back at our roots and discover anew our pristine
identity as Bengalees. And one of the most significant aspects of the
day has been its secular character, as people belonging to different
religious faiths and denominations take part in the celebrations with
greater spontaneity than they do on any other occasion.
But lately, the essence of our culture that Baishakh embodies has come
under threat from some religious bigots who are bent on destroying the
history of tolerance and religious harmony in the country. These
obscurantist elements are preaching their own brand of skewed
philosophy to reap political benefits through creating anarchy in
society. Therefore, on Pahela Baishakh it remains our solemn
responsibility to stand up as a wall to thwart the machination of these
elements.
On this day the nation takes a renewed pledge to march forward to build
a happy and prosperous future for the people.
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[Any university student desiring to participate in an evening of
Rabindra Sangeet or wanting to commemorate the Bangla New Year was
immediately fodder for the misguided intelligence authorities that saw
in such events the influence of India, subversion and the destruction
of Pakistani values and ideals]
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/04/14/d60414150189.htm
Daily Star, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Friday, April 14, 2006
Esho hey Baishakh
Muhammad Zamir
..... the gradual evolution of Pahela Baishakh as a national
institution has been the liberation of my soul as a Bangalee. I still
remember the great caution with which we undertook cultural programmes
in the early 1960s. Any university student desiring to participate in
an evening of Rabindra Sangeet or wanting to commemorate the Bangla New
Year was immediately fodder for the misguided intelligence authorities
that saw in such events the influence of India, subversion and the
destruction of Pakistani values and ideals. However such restrictions
also had its brand of sick humour. The most favourite joke referred to
the then Pakistani President Ayub Khan rebuking his loyal Governor
Monem Khan in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and asking him why he was
unable to write or produce Rabindra Sangeet.
Consequently, it was seen as a great sign of courage, when Chhayanaut,
a cultural body composed of some progressive intellectuals and lovers
of art and music, decided to organise a programme of Rabindra Sangeet
on the first of Baishakh in the Ramna Park in Dhaka. This bold step in
more ways than one, was the second success in the struggle to establish
our cultural identity as a Bangalee nation. Subsequently, it became the
focal point in Dhaka's cultural calendar. Those associated with the
event, became icons, and celebrating the Bengali New Year evolved into
an expression of indirect protest against the ideology of exploitation
that identified the ruling Pakistani administration and what it stood
for.
With the emergence of Bangladesh came official recognition of Pahela
Baishakh which was declared a public holiday. This transformed the
secular event into a national festival.
Baishakh conjures up for me many things. It is not only music or songs.
It also encapsulates the glorious world of cuisine, of sherbets, of
fruits, of spices and colours. Pahela Baishakh in my imagination is the
magic of different kinds of 'bhartas', 'bhajis, several kinds of 'dal'
and 'shobjis', yogurt and sweets and 'kasundi'. Baishakh opens the door
for Joishtya, and prepares us for the feast of fruits -- leechies,
mangoes, guavas, 'kalojam', 'jamrul' and jackfruit. Baishakh for me is
also continuation of what started in Falgun and Chaitra. It is a period
when most people touch the colour palette and cover themselves with
radiant reds, oranges, canary yellow, burgundy, emerald, parrot green,
mystic blue and pristine white. Earth tones also surface in block
prints and in the use of embroidery in clothes. Baishakh in more ways
than one becomes a metaphor for rejuvenation and rebirth.
There are no political overtones in the celebration of Baishakh except
in the minds of some sick individuals, who because of their twisted
understanding of religion, frown on the gaiety and spirit associated
with this date.
I have dedicated this column to Baishakh because the eternal child in
me believes in fairy tales, in the power of good over evil. Every time
Baishakh comes around, it reminds me of the Bangalee ethos and the
unity we displayed during the dark days of 1971. ......
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