This
year once again we are going to celebrate the first day of
spring Pohela Falgun. Spring or Boshonto consists of two
months Falgun and Choitra. We celebrate the first day of
Falgun to welcome Boshonto, the season of flowers and all
the vibrant colours.
The
advent of Falgun wipes away the dry and chilling elements
of winter with a subtle touch of warmness. But how much do
we know about Pohela Falgun apart from this that the
girls roam around the DU campus wrapping themselves up in
striking colours and that it is a great day for the love
birds?
According
to the history of Mughal period Emperor Akbar started the
Bengali year in 1585 AD with the intention of collecting
revenue by following the solar year. At that time nowroz
or the first day of the Bengali year was celebrated with
great enthusiasm. Emperor Akbar who was secular in nature
abolished all Muslim festivals and introduced fourteen new
festivals for the new Bengali year.
The
names of the months were not like the present form at that
time. It is not known exactly when they became Boiskakh,
Jaishthya etc. but all these names were derived from the
names of the stars.
The
name Falgun came from the star Falguni. The reason behind
the naming after starts is that in the Vedic Age (1500 BC)
the rishis (ancient Indian scholars) had an obsession
with astrology and the stars. Though they use to follow
the solar year the mention of Falguni (spring) full moon
in Vedic Literature suggests that lunar months were also
calculated. Probably the traditional inclination of the rishis to
the moon and stars led to the naming of the months after stars.
The
significance of Pohela Falgun is very singular in our
national life. The way we celebrate Pohela Boishakh and
Pohela Falgun in Bangladesh these days started to flourish
after the arousal of Bengali Nationalism in 1950s and
1960s.
After
the Language Movement people of East Pakistan started to
celebrate festivals which were related to the Bengali
culture silently defying the anti-Bengali attitude of the
then Pakistan Government.
Cultural
bodies and general people started celebrating these events
with Tagore songs which was banned in 1960s. So
celebrating Pohela Falgun was not for having fun only at
that time. It was a display of our nationalism.
In
the pre-independence period these days worked as a way to
flaunt Bengali Nationalism. Unfortunately fundamentalist
elements are still in full swing in our country to spoil
our national spirit. So it is time again that we start
celebrating Pohela Falgun with a renewed enthusiasm with
which it was celebrated in the pre-independence period.
The
days Pohela Falgun and Boishakh are our two efforts at
warding off fundamentalist and anti- nationalistic forces.
These
two days are parts of our National Heritage and National
History like the Independence Day, the Victory Day and the
Language Martyrs Day.
These
are meant not for fashion conscious people and love birds
only. These days were and are a way to protest
fundamentalism, a way to defy racist bans and to protect
our national pride and glory.
Falgun (Bengali: ফাল্গুন) is the
eleventh month in the বঙ্গাব্দ Bangla Calendar and the Bikram Sambat.
The first of Falgun is known as “Pohela Falgun” and usually falls on
the 13th February of the Gregorian Calendar.
“Pohela
Falgun” symbolizes the festival of color, coherence of heart and a
refreshing start of life. Nature, that seemed decayed recently,
suddenly appears with full of infancy. Nature becomes colorful as
flowers like Shimul, Polash, Mango, Rose, Marigolds blossom. Melody of
birds or mild touch of the sunshine – everything will make you feel
that springtime is the nature’s festival. The day will inspire you to
fall in love, to be romantic.
On
the occasion, girls are dressed in bashonti (yellow or orange)
coloured saree and flowers in hair while boys wear colorful pajama and
panjabi to welcome the arrival of spring.
The
center point of this festivity is “Bakul-tola” of the Institute of
Fine Arts (Commonly known as Charukola) of Dhaka University. The jingle
of the celebration is "Esho mili praner utshabe" (Come, let us
celebrate life together). Jatiya Boshonto Utshab Udjapan Parishad
arranges the main celebration program of the day for over a decade. The
celebration usually begins at around 7am in the morning. Thousands of
young men and women gather in the morning and celebrate the day with
signing songs, reciting poems and dancing. At around 10:00am a rally
starts from Bokul-tola, it revolves round the TSC and later ends at
Charukola.
The
entire Dhaka University Campus and the Ekeushy Boi-mela becomes the
best place to hang out with friends, family members and beloved ones.
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উত্তরমুছুনBangladeshi Food Culture