Falgun arrives

The colourful Bengali month of Falgun begins today coinciding with the arrival of spring, better known as ‘Basant’ which is celebrated as a symbol of yellow and orange colour festival and the rebirth of nature.

The nature gets a new look in vivid colours as trees discard old leaves paving ways for new cohorts to grow and resemble the farewell of winter and emergence of summer in the typical Bengali calendar each year.

Girls and women along with their male counterparts wear different hues of yellow and orange to welcome the season by dancing and singing with immense zeal and laughter. This is also considered as the best time for modest weather when temperature hovers between around 27 and 13 degree Celsius with sweet breezes.

Known as Pohela Falgun, first day of Spring and Bengali month Falgun of the Bengali calendar, celebrated in Bangladesh and West Bengal and in the other Indian states, including Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Odisha. The first of Falgun usually falls on 13 February of the Gregorian calendar.

This day is marked with colourful celebration and traditionally, women wear yellow saris and put garlands to celebrate this day. This celebration is known as `Basant Utsob`.

In next two months, the current Bengali year 1424 will bid farewell and the New Year 1425 will be welcomed in mid April amid much fanfare and festivity in capital Dhaka and other parts of the country. The Basant or spring carries a huge importance in politics too.

The very mass protest to protect the Bengali language from Urdu was launched in this month and it has later been recognised as the International Mother Language Day by the United Nations. The seeds of the independence of Bangladesh`s birth in 1972 were also sowed in this language movement of 1952.

The Jatiya Basant Utshob Udjapan Parishad, in consistence with the last years, has taken elaborate programmes to celebrate the day. The programmes include: holding a colourful rally, recital of flute and playing of other local instruments, classical music festival, and other cultural activities in the city.

A dance troupe from neighboring Agartala, India, is also scheduled to perform in capital Dhaka.

Source: BSS