Folk Music Festivals in Bangladesh

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Musical festival in Kushtia TJ Ony 1.jpg
Musical festival in Kushtia

Folk music is one of the genres of music in Bangladesh. It is mainly Bengali's own music. This music talks about the lives of the people of rural Bengal, happiness, and sorrow. There are many parts to it again. It highlights the culture of a country or any region of the country.

Contents

The foundation of the festival and more importantly of the Extinct rituals are joint activities. The essential operations of the inhabitants were additionally connected with agriculture through several events or festivals and they were controlled by dramas. Extinct rituals were a magical process of taming supernatural forces; His character stays in later culture. Extinct agricultural festivals were spontaneous, which later became extremely formal and lost their spontaneity.

Festivals

Dhaka International FolkFest

Dhaka World Music Festival also referred to as Dhaka World Music Fest is an international folk music festival held in Dhaka, Bangladesh featuring national and international music stars of different genres. The festival covers an extensive scope of performances from local folk and traditional music genres to world fusion and contemporary world music across the globe. The festival is perceived to be a cardinal platform in Bangladesh to witness the true fusion in the form of world music. [1] [2]

Pahela Baishakh

Pahela Baishakh (Poila Baishak) is the first day of the Bengali calendar which is the official calendar of Bangladesh. This festival is celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam (Barak Valley) by Bengalis regardless of religious faith. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Pahela Falgun

Pahela Falgun (Basanta Utsab) is a Spring festival, also known as the first day of Spring of the Bengali month Falgun. [8] The celebration was started in 1991 by students of Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts. [9] The first of Falgun usually falls on 13 February of the Gregorian Calendar. [10]

Nabanna

Nabanna is a Bengali Winter and harvest festival, usually celebrated with food, dance and folk music in Bangladesh. [11]

Barsha Utsab

Barsha Utsab also known an Barsha Mangal Utsab is a day-long Monsoon salutation festival celebrated in Bangladesh. The festival date is set according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar as the first day of its third month Asharh , usually falls on 15 June of the Gregorian Calendar. [12] [13] [14] This day is marked with colourful celebration including folk music singing performances, drama, poetry recitation, screening of cinemas on rain. [15] [16]

Bizhu

Bizhu is a three-day-long festival that commemorates the commencement of a new year for the Chakmas and is their most important festival. Bizhu marks the Chaitra-sankranti, which is the last day of the Bengali calendar. Bizhu is also a folk music accompaniments festival. [17]

Nouka Baich

Nouka Baich Boat racing festivals are held after the monsoon when rivers are filled in Bangladesh. It is also a traditional dragon boat-style paddling sport in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Rowing Federation, established in 1974, is the authority of all rowing activities in Bangladesh. [18]

Astok geet

Astok song or astok dance is one of the major trends in the ancient folk culture of West Bengal and Bangladesh. It is usually performed during various Chaitra Sankranti rituals in the 'Bengali Hindu' society.

In general, on the occasion of "Niler/Shiva's Gajan" ancillary to "Gajan Utsav" on the last three days of Chaitra month, as tak songs and dances are organized in different parts of the country, especially at folk fairs organized in the south-west, as one of the main ancillary performances in various forms of songs and rituals.

Akharai Song

Akharai song is a popular song of a special genre prevalent in the state of West Bengal, India at the end of the 18th century and early 19th century. Kuluichandra Sen and Ramnidhi Gupta are the promoters of this new genre of songs. King Navakrishna was the patron of this custom. [19]

Kavigan

Kavigan is a special genre of Bengali folk music. In this genre, folk poets participate in competitive music. The singer has to be a poet. He composes verses by mouth and sings instantly. The poet's performers are called poets.

Gazir pot

Gazir pot is a traditional folk painting of Bengal. [20] The theme of the folk song is the story of Pir Barakhan Ghazi, which narrates the various events of Ghazi Pir in the form of lyrics. Ghazi's Pot episode was earlier one of the modes of entertainment in the rural areas of Greater Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Comilla, Noakhali, Jessore, Khulna, Rajshahi. The old Ghazi pot is currently preserved in Ashutosh Museum, Shilpaacharya Zainul Lok and Crafts Museum, Bangla Academy Museum etc. The main subsistence of the episode is ghazi pir's greatness and miraculous power, comedy mixed proverbs and fear of death. [21]

Type of Bangla folk music

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The music of Bangladesh spans a wide variety of styles. Bangladesh claims some of the most renowned singers, composers and producers in Asia. Music has served the purpose of documenting the lives of the people and was widely patronized by the rulers. It comprises a long tradition of religious and regular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pohela Boishakh</span> Bengali new year

Pohela Boishakh is the Bengali New Year celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam. It is a festival based on the spring harvest—which marks the first day of the new year in the official calendar of Bangladesh.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boishakh</span> * 1st month of the * Bengali calendar

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falgun</span> * 11th month of the * Bengali calendar

Falgun or Phalgun or Phagun is the eleventh month of the year in the Bengali calendar, the Assamese calendar, and the Nepali calendar. In the revision of the Bengali calendar used in Bangladesh since October 2019, the month has 29 days in common years or 30 in leap years of the Gregorian calendar. In the previous version of the calendar, used in Bangladesh from 1987 through October 2019, Falgun had 30 days in common years or 31 days in leap years. The month has 29 or 30 days, based on the true movements of the Sun, in the old non-reformed Bengali calendar, still used in West Bengal, and in the Nepali calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Bangladesh</span>

The culture of Bangladesh is intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It has evolved over the centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of several social groups of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance of the 18th early 19th centuries, noted Bengali writers, saints, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composers, painters, film-makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali culture. The culture of Bangladesh is deeply intertwined with the culture of the Bengal region. Basically Bengali culture refers to the culture of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent political Indian nationalism which was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic cultural expression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asharh</span> * 3rd month of the * Bengali calendar

Asharh is the third month of the Bengali and Odia calendars and the Tirhuta Panchang. It is the first of the two months that comprise the wet season, locally known as "Barsha", when the monsoon winds blow. It is one of the first five months of the year that have 31 days, according to the Bangladeshi version of the Bengali Calendar. In the Indian version of the Bengali Calendar, the month can have up to 32 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choitro</span> * 12th month of the * Bengali calendar

Choitro is the last month of the Bengali calendar. It falls from mid-March to mid-April and is the last month of Spring. The name of the month is derived from the star Chitra.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Dhaka</span> Historical territory of the city of Dhaka

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali calendars</span> Calendar used in the Bengal region

The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar, colloquially, is a solar calendar used in the Bengal region of the South Asia. A revised version of the calendar is the national and official calendar in Bangladesh and an earlier version of the calendar is followed in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. Unlike the traditional Indian Hindu calendar which starts with the month of Chaitra, the Bengali calendar starts with Boishakh because of the reforms made during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in Mughal Bengal. The first day of the Bengali year is known as Pohela Boishakh which is a public holiday in Bangladesh.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pohela Falgun</span> First day of spring, as of Bengali calendar

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangal Shobhajatra</span> Mass procession that takes place at dawn on the first day of the Bengali New Year in Bangladesh

Mangal Shobhajatra or Mongol Shovajatra is a mass procession that takes place at dawn on the first day of the Bengali New Year in Bangladesh. The procession is organised by the teachers and students of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Dhaka. The festival is considered an expression of the secular identity of the Bangladeshi people and as a way to promote unity. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2016, categorised on the representative list as a heritage of humanity.

Barsha Utsab also known an Barsha Mangal Utsab is a day-long Monsoon salutation festival celebrated in Bangladesh. The festival date is set according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar as the first day of its third month Asharh, usually falls on 15 June of the Gregorian Calendar. This day is marked with colourful celebration included singing performances, drama, poetry recitation, screening of cinemas on rain, puppet show, Hilsha Fest and many other programmes. Traditionally women wear sky blue saris to celebrate the first day of Wet season.

The Bangladeshi calendar is a civil calendar used in Bangladesh, alongside the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic calendar. With roots in the ancient calendars of the region, it is based on Tarikh-e-Ilahi, introduced by the Mughal Emperor Akbar on 10/11 March 1584. Amartya Sen states that only traces of Akbar's influence survive. The calendar is important for Bangladeshi agriculture, as well as festivals and traditional record keeping for revenue and taxation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basanta Uṯsab</span> Bengali festival

Basanta Utsab is a festival celebrated by Bengalis. The festival is celebrated every year on Falguni Purnima. Celebrations of the festival are observed in West Bengal and Bengali-dominated areas of other Indian states; Shantiniketan, a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in West Bengal, sees the biggest celebration of the festival. The festival in Bangladesh also celebrated as Pohela Falgun on the first day of Spring of the Bengali month Falgun.

References

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