Dol Jatra and Holi

Obviously, people get much amusement through celebration of any festival around the world. Bangladeshis are no different. Needless to say, the culture of Bangladesh is much enriched with so many festivals. Dol Jatra and Holi are two of them.

Mainly the Baisnab community of Hindu religion celebrate Dol Jatra and it is related to the Holi festival, which is observed the next day. Some also term it as spring festival. It is celebrated on the full moon in the Bangla month of Falgun every year. Wearing mostly white clothes, people become festive and they dowse each other with colourful dyes for good luck. This year, the festival fell on March 12-13.
According to Hindu mythology, there was a demon king named Hirannakashipu. But the demon had a religiously devout son called Prollad. So the king tried his best to kill his own son, without success. Finally, Holika, who was a sister of the demon king, hatched a plan to jump into a fire holding Prollad in her arms. As she had supernatural power, she thought the fire would not harm her, but kill the boy. However, Holika was burnt as she had used her power in an evil way. Lord Vishnu rescued Prollad alive. Thus, Holi celebrates the victory of good over evil.
In Baisnab legend, Lord Krishna smeared Radha’s face with coloured powder as she was playing on a swing, or ‘dolna’ in Bangla, with her friends at Vrindaban. The word ‘dol’ comes from ‘dolna’ and ‘jatra’ means procession. 
To celebrate this day, devotees bring out ‘doljatra’, processions with images of Radha and Krishna at the dawn and they chant devotional songs called kirtan. Later on, they enjoy the occasion by smearing each other with coloured powders. Married Hindu women exchange ‘abir’ (vermilion powder) with each other seeking blessingsfor their families. The day is an optional holiday.
Like many other Bangladeshi festival, Holi has also secular appeal. People from different communities, particularly the youth, take part in the festival. The youngsters have much fun throwing coloured powders at everyone, while some beat drums to liven things up. In a nutshell, it is a festival of colours. 

Dol Jatra and Holi

Obviously, people get much amusement through celebration of any festival around the world. Bangladeshis are no different. Needless to say, the culture of Bangladesh is much enriched with so many festivals. Dol Jatra and Holi are two of them. Mainly the Baisnab community of Hindu religion celebrate Dol Jatra and it is related to the Holi festival, which is observed the next day. Some also term it as spring festival. It is celebrated on the full moon in the Bangla month of Falgun every year. Wearing mostly white clothes, people become festive and they dowse each other with colourful dyes for good luck. This year, the festival fell on March 12-13. According to Hindu mythology, there was a demon king named Hirannakashipu. But the demon had a religiously devout son called Prollad. So the king tried his best to kill his own son, without success. Finally, Holika, who was a sister of the demon king, hatched a plan to jump into a fire holding Prollad in her arms. As she had supernatural power, she thought the fire would not harm her, but kill the boy. However, Holika was burnt as she had used her power in an evil way. Lord Vishnu rescued Prollad alive. Thus, Holi celebrates the victory of good over evil. In Baisnab legend, Lord Krishna smeared Radhas face with coloured powder as she was playing on a swing, or dolna in Bangla, with her friends at Vrindaban. The word dol comes from dolna and jatra means procession. To celebrate this day, devotees bring out doljatra, processions with images of Radha and Krishna at the dawn and they chant devotional songs called kirtan. Later on, they enjoy the occasion by smearing each other with coloured powders. Married Hindu women exchange abir (vermilion powder) with each other seeking blessingsfor their families. The day is an optional holiday. Like many other Bangladeshi festival, Holi has also secular appeal. People from different communities, particularly the youth, take part in the festival. The youngsters have much fun throwing coloured powders at everyone, while some beat drums to liven things up. In a nutshell, it is a festival of colours.