Preparing for 1425

Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali calendar which falls on April 14, is almost here and people around the country have been busy preparing for Bangla Noboborsho in different ways. From shopping for new clothes to getting the right ingredients for traditional dishes, everything is being arranged to celebrate the day. Preparations for Mangal Shobhajatra, a colourful parade to welcome the New Year, have been going on in full swing through the efforts of enthusiastic volunteers.

Mangal Shobhajatra, a procession to convey good wishes and highlight our culture and traditions, features various carnival floats, large colourful paper masks, and bamboo, paper and clay replicas of birds, butterflies, animals, dolls and other designs that represent our Bengali heritage. The parade has become a key celebration of the Bangla New Year festivities since the first one was held at Jessore in 1985. It got recognition from UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2016.

Dhaka University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, popularly called Charukola, takes the lead in arranging the parade on their own every year. Final-year Master’s students get the responsibility to guide student volunteers during the month-long preparations. The teachers also assist them and even former art students take part spontaneously. The students collect funds for the floats by selling their own paintings and other artworks. They never accept any sponsorship or donations from outside, so that they don’t lose the freedom of showcasing their own art and ideas.  

Every year, Charukola students select a slogan or theme for the parade.   There are three aspects of choosing the theme _ stand against oppression and evil forces, courage and strength of Bangladeshis, peace and solidarity.

The theme of the parade for the coming Bangla Shon 1425 is ‘Manush Bhojley Shonar Manush Hobi’, the title of a song by Baul musician Lalon Shah. Loosely translated, the verse means ‘you can become a good person by nurturing others’.

“Our main focus this year is to spread the message of peace as conflicts among people are increasing day by day. According to the song, if we develop ourselves, we will see an overall development,” said Afi Azad, a joint-convener of the parade organising committee and a student of Department of Printmaking.

This year’s preparations included drawing paintings, making replicas, masks and handicrafts, supervised by the students of 2016-2017 session (20th batch) and teachers. On March 15, renowned artist Rafiqun Nabi inaugurated the activities by painting on a canvas near Zainul Gallery on the DU campus.

About the art pieces being prepared this year, Azad said: “Our works will represent the simple lifestyle of the village people who live in peace, compared to city people. This will teach people to live simply, avoiding clashes and chaos.”

“One of the new mascots we will introduce, along with the traditional owl, tiger, and king-queen, is a submerged water buffalo, which is a very common sight in our villages,” he added.

At Charukola, students and teachers were busy making different types of masks or painting clay pottery, shaping huge sculptures out of bamboo, straw, paper and other materials for Mangal Shobhajatra. The replicas they were making included elephants, birds, dolls, buffaloes, tigers, fish, etc, and each of the structures had new style on them.

The works designed by the students were offered for sale on the Charukola premises to raise funds for the procession. The artworks went for Tk50 to Tk20,000.

“We have fixed the prices considering the buying capacity of all people. It is not an ordinary purchase. It is a contribution to the celebrations. Those who buy any of the pieces will be part of it,” Eti Rajbongshi, a student who was selling her artwork, said.

Prashanto Ray, another student, said, “A committee takes on the responsibility for the entire process of arranging Mangal Shobhajatra. We make traditional masks of characters from Bengali folklore, like king and queen, clown, demon, tiger, owl, crow, and puppet. People come here to buy those at affordable prices. For that, we are thankful to all. Actually, people from all walks of life somehow participate to make the procession successful.”

A daylong art camp was arranged at Charukola on April 7 to raise more funds for the Mangal Shobhajatra. Students, former students and other artists, including some famous ones, took part in the event. The money raised by selling their art pieces would l be saved and used for arranging Mangal Shobhajatra next year (2019).   

Mashrufa Yasmin, a 2nd year student of graphics designing department, said: “This art camp is one of my favourite events of Mangal Shobhajatra preparations as we can meet so many talented artists under the same roof and learn so much from them. We also get to hear stories from the former students about their university days here. We get to see so many renowned personalities being a part of our effort to make the parade a success.”

Since the Bengali New Year procession now has UNESCO recognition, the government has taken measures to arrange observe it at the national level this year. A meeting held on March 25 at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka decided to ask every district and divisional administrations, as well as Bangladesh embassies in different countries to arrange Mangal Shobhajatra in their respective areas.

Anisuzzaman, an associate professor of Department of Printmaking at Faculty of Fine Art, DU, said, “I was a part of the first Mangal Shobhajatra and I feel really lucky to be still a part of it. I feel the same enthusiasm and energy about the preparations. Our students give a lot of effort every year to make the parade a success. Even if you come at 11 in the night, you can see our students working hard on the campus. The star students, however, give less effort in here, as they are busy in improving themselves. But every other student somehow gets involved as it is a pride of our department.”

“From the very beginning, former students have been helping with the preparations, but with time their participation has become less, but they still do their bit in many ways. The students give their effort in raising funds, and they even donate money as we never take any private or government help. We believe, if we include sponsorship or donation money, our freedom of thought and expression would be hindered,” Anisuzzaman continued.

“As Mangal Shobhajatra is a part of our heritage now, we can’t take any issue regarding it easily. That is why we give importance to every little detail, from the sculpture we make to the theme. With this year’s theme, ‘Manush Bhojley Shonar Manush Hobi’, we are trying to say _ as our county is looking for a way to develop everything, we have to work on ourselves, we have to develop ourselves to make things better for all. Even the sculptures and mascots are related to the theme and represent something about our county,” he added.

Charupith, an art research institute in Jessore established by artist SM Sultan, organised a colourful parade, called ‘Boishakhi Shobhajatra’, on Pohela Boishakh for the first time in 1985. The theme of the first parade was ‘Esho gahi mongoler joyogan’ (Let’s sing the song of wellbeing).

Four years later, Dhaka Fine Arts Institute, now Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University, brought out a similar procession, naming it ‘Anondo Shobhajatra’, on April 14 in 1989. The participants paraded the campus wearing colourful topor (traditional headgear), carrying colourful masks of animals and folk characters. Later on, renowned artist Imdad Hossain and cultural activist Waheedul Haque proposed the name ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’.

Nurul Haque was one of the first organisers of Mangal Shobhajatra. “One day, I was chatting with my friends at Charukola when we got the idea of arranging a procession for celebrating Pohela Boishakh. So, with our junior, we started preparing for the procession, giving it the name ‘Anondo Shobhajatra’. Within a very short time, we handcrafted replicas of different traditional objects and masks, and made placards. On Pohela Boishakh, we started the parade to the beat of dhak (traditional drums). That day, we did not think much about it; we didn’t even imagine the one day it would get recognition from UNESCO as an intangible part of world cultural heritage. All we thought of was starting a New Year by letting go of all the old and wake up with a fresh new start,” added Haque, who is popularly known as Minu Bhai and now lives in the USA.

The celebration of Pohela Boishakh has been a vital part of Bengali culture since Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced a revised solar calendar in 1556 to facilitate tax collection in Bengal Subah, then a subdivision of the empire. n

Photos: Nurun Nabi,

Nazmul Islam, Sanzida Hasan.

 

Preparing for 1425

Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali calendarwhich falls on April 14, is almost here and people around the country have been busy preparing for Bangla Noboborsho in different ways. From shopping for new clothes to getting the right ingredients for traditional dishes, everything is being arranged to celebrate the day. Preparations for Mangal Shobhajatra, a colourful parade to welcome the New Year, have been going on in full swing through the efforts of enthusiastic volunteers. Mangal Shobhajatra, a procession to convey good wishes and highlight our culture and traditions, features various carnival floats, large colourful paper masks, and bamboo, paper and clay replicas of birds, butterflies, animals, dolls and other designs that represent our Bengali heritage. The parade has become a key celebration of the Bangla New Year festivities since the first one was held at Jessore in 1985. It got recognition from UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2016. Dhaka Universitys Faculty of Fine Arts, popularly called Charukola, takes the lead in arranging the parade on their own every year. Final-year Masters students get the responsibility to guide student volunteers during the month-long preparations. The teachers also assist them and even former art students take part spontaneously. The students collect funds for the floats by selling their own paintings and other artworks. They never accept any sponsorship or donations from outside, so that they dont lose the freedom of showcasing their own art and ideas. Every year, Charukola students select a slogan or theme for the parade. There are three aspects of choosing the theme _ stand against oppression and evil forces, courage and strength of Bangladeshis, peace and solidarity. The theme of the parade for the coming Bangla Shon 1425 is Manush Bhojley Shonar Manush Hobi, the title of a song by Baul musician Lalon Shah. Loosely translated, the verse means you can become a good person by nurturing others. Our main focus this year is to spread the message of peace as conflicts among people are increasing day by day. According to the song, if we develop ourselves, we will see an overall development, said Afi Azad, a joint-convener of the parade organising committee and a student of Department of Printmaking. This years preparations included drawing paintings, making replicas, masks and handicrafts, supervised by the students of 2016-2017 session (20th batch) and teachers. On March 15, renowned artist Rafiqun Nabi inaugurated the activities by painting on a canvas near Zainul Gallery on the DU campus. About the art pieces being prepared this year, Azad said: Our works will represent the simple lifestyle of the village people who live in peace, compared to city people. This will teach people to live simply, avoiding clashes and chaos. One of the new mascots we will introduce, along with the traditional owl, tiger, and king-queen, is a submerged water buffalo, which is a very common sight in our villages, he added. At Charukola, students and teachers were busy making different types of masks or painting clay pottery, shaping huge sculptures out of bamboo, straw, paper and other materials for Mangal Shobhajatra. The replicas they were making included elephants, birds, dolls, buffaloes, tigers, fish, etc, and each of the structures had new style on them. The works designed by the students were offered for sale on the Charukola premises to raise funds for the procession. The artworks went for Tk50 to Tk20,000. We have fixed the prices considering the buying capacity of all people. It is not an ordinary purchase. It is a contribution to the celebrations. Those who buy any of the pieces will be part of it, Eti Rajbongshi, a student who was selling her artwork, said. Prashanto Ray, another student, said, A committee takes on the responsibility for the entire process of arranging Mangal Shobhajatra. We make traditional masks of characters from Bengali folklore, like king and queen, clown, demon, tiger, owl, crow, and puppet. People come here to buy those at affordable prices. For that, we are thankful to all. Actually, people from all walks of life somehow participate to make the procession successful. A daylong art camp was arranged at Charukola on April 7 to raise more funds for the Mangal Shobhajatra. Students, former students and other artists, including some famous ones, took part in the event. The money raised by selling their art pieces would l be saved and used for arranging Mangal Shobhajatra next year (2019). Mashrufa Yasmin, a 2nd year student of graphics designing department, said: This art camp is one of my favourite events of Mangal Shobhajatra preparations as we can meet so many talented artists under the same roof and learn so much from them. We also get to hear stories from the former students about their university days here. We get to see so many renowned personalities being a part of our effort to make the parade a success. Since the Bengali New Year procession now has UNESCO recognition, the government has taken measures to arrange observe it at the national level this year. A meeting held on March 25 at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka decided to ask every district and divisional administrations, as well as Bangladesh embassies in different countries to arrange Mangal Shobhajatra in their respective areas. Anisuzzaman, an associate professor of Department of Printmaking at Faculty of Fine Art, DU, said, I was a part of the first Mangal Shobhajatra and I feel really lucky to be still a part of it. I feel the same enthusiasm and energy about the preparations. Our students give a lot of effort every year to make the parade a success. Even if you come at 11 in the night, you can see our students working hard on the campus. The star students, however, give less effort in here, as they are busy in improving themselves. But every other student somehow gets involved as it is a pride of our department. From the very beginning, former students have been helping with the preparations, but with time their participation has become less, but they still do their bit in many ways. The students give their effort in raising funds, and they even donate money as we never take any private or government help. We believe, if we include sponsorship or donation money, our freedom of thought and expression would be hindered, Anisuzzaman continued. As Mangal Shobhajatra is a part of our heritage now, we cant take any issue regarding it easily. That is why we give importance to every little detail, from the sculpture we make to the theme. With this years theme, Manush Bhojley Shonar Manush Hobi, we are trying to say _ as our county is looking for a way to develop everything, we have to work on ourselves, we have to develop ourselves to make things better for all. Even the sculptures and mascots are related to the theme and represent something about our county, he added. Charupith, an art research institute in Jessore established by artist SM Sultan, organised a colourful parade, called Boishakhi Shobhajatra, on Pohela Boishakh for the first time in 1985. The theme of the first parade was Esho gahi mongoler joyogan (Lets sing the song of wellbeing). Four years later, Dhaka Fine Arts Institute, now Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University, brought out a similar procession, naming it Anondo Shobhajatra, on April 14 in 1989. The participants paraded the campus wearing colourful topor (traditional headgear), carrying colourful masks of animals and folk characters. Later on, renowned artist Imdad Hossain and cultural activist Waheedul Haque proposed the name Mangal Shobhajatra. Nurul Haque was one of the first organisers of Mangal Shobhajatra. One day, I was chatting with my friends at Charukola when we got the idea of arranging a procession for celebrating Pohela Boishakh. So, with our junior, we started preparing for the procession, giving it the name Anondo Shobhajatra. Within a very short time, we handcrafted replicas of different traditional objects and masks, and made placards. On Pohela Boishakh, we started the parade to the beat of dhak (traditional drums). That day, we did not think much about it; we didnt even imagine the one day it would get recognition from UNESCO as an intangible part of world cultural heritage. All we thought of was starting a New Year by letting go of all the old and wake up with a fresh new start, added Haque, who is popularly known as Minu Bhai and now lives in the USA. The celebration of Pohela Boishakh has been a vital part of Bengali culture since Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced a revised solar calendar in 1556 to facilitate tax collection in Bengal Subah, then a subdivision of the empire. n Photos: Nurun Nabi, Nazmul Islam, Sanzida Hasan.