Usually religious festivals are held centering on one religious belief and thought after another. Among the religious festivals of Bangladesh are Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Eid-e-Miladunnabi and Muharram. Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Saraswati Puja of Hindus. Buddhapurnima of the Buddhists. The main religious festival of Christians is Christmas.
Eid is the biggest religious festival of Muslims. Eid means joy, Eid means happiness. Eid comes with the message of joy and reunion. People forget the hatred, the grief. Eid is celebrated very solemnly in Bangladesh. Eid comes twice a year. First comes Eid-ul-Fitr, then Eid-ul-Azha. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan. The Arabic month of Ramadan is a time of fasting or abstinence. After fasting from the first to the last day of the month of Ramadan, they observe Eid-ul-Fitr on the first day of the month of Shawwal. Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated on the tenth day of the month of Jilhaj. Sacrifice is done on this day. It is called the Eid of Sacrifice. Many also call it the Eid of Sacrifice. The meat of the sacrificial animal was also distributed among the poor relatives. On the day of Eid, everyone wears good clothes. He goes to Eidgah Maidan to perform Eid prayers. After the prayers, they hug each other. On this day everyone organizes a little good food. They share the joy of Eid by eating themselves and feeding the neighbors.
Muharram is a sad and solemn festival. Muharram is basically the name of the first month of the Hijri year. On the tenth day of this month, Imam Husain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), was ruthlessly martyred along with his family in the desert of Karbala at the hands of the Ajid soldiers. The commemoration of this tragic event is called Muharram.
Shab-i-Barat means Good Night. A big religious festival of the Muslim society. On the night of Shab-i-Barat, Allah the Almighty forgives the sins of His servants and determines the good fortune of the coming year. Therefore, devout Muslims perform these prayers and seek forgiveness from Allah. Charity and prayers are the main theme of this festival. Emotion, excitement, not joy, the essence of the pursuit.
On the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the date of 12 Rabiul Awal is celebrated every year as Eid-e-Miladunnabi. Eid means happiness and the word Miladunnabi means the birth of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). So the word Eid-e-Miladunnabi means happy birth of the Prophet.
Bangladesh is a country of festivals. There are various social festivals in this country. Among these, Bengali New Year, Halkhata, Wedding, Vaifonta, Annaprashan, Khatna, Janmadin, Nabanna, Shraddha, Poushparvan etc. are notable.
Bengali New Year is a major social festival in Bangladesh. This Bengali New Year is a festival of forgetting the sorrows, pains, fatigue and filth of the old days and accepting the new ones. Bengali New Year is the carrier of our culture and tradition. From this point of view, this day is very significant for every Bengali. Bengali New Year is celebrated in almost every region of Bangladesh. A fair was organized on this occasion. Merchants open new accounts on this day and invite those whose names are in the balance-book to pay the balance. Sweets are also provided for them. This is known as halakhata. The Bengali New Year is celebrated in a grand style in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The Mars procession was taken out from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. All day long cultural programs are held at the base of Ramna. Fairs are also held in different parts of the country.
Nabanna is the festival of new paddy. In autumn new paddy grows in the house. At that time, the smell of making cakes fell in the houses of rural Bengal. Various types of pitha-puli are made with new rice.
Poush-Parvan is the festival of cakes. In the month of Poush, cakes are made in every house in this country. Steamed pitha, chitai pitha, chitai pitha soaked in sweet juice, rasapitha etc. The ancient life of Bengal was celebrated with the festival of eating cakes.
Festivals are not limited to folklore. There are some festivals in our country which are not limited to any religious community, family etc. These are festivals of people of all religions, of all classes. These public festivals are known to us as national festivals. Such as- Ekushey February or Martyr's Day, Independence Day, Victory Day, Intellectuals' Day etc. Just as these festivals are celebrated with state dignity, we also celebrate them socially.
Ekushey February or Martyr's Day is a symbol of mourning for us. Rafiq, Salam, Barkat, Jabbar, Shafiur and many others were martyred on February 21, 1952 while trying to establish Bengali as the state language. We celebrate this day through festivals to remember their memory and pay homage to their purpose. We pay flowers at the Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the martyrs. Besides, various discussion meetings and cultural programs were organized on the occasion.
On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army launched an armed attack on the Bengalis, killing scores of people. Their aim was to wipe out the Bengalis. But Bangabandhu declared independence in the early hours of March 26 and started the war of liberation.
After a long and bloody war of liberation for nine months, on December 16, 1971, our country became free from enemies. That is why we celebrate this day on 16th December as Victory Day. On this occasion, public holidays were declared in all types of institutions in the country. The whole of Bangladesh rejoiced at the victory. Apart from paying homage to those who were martyred in the war of liberation, cultural programs were organized in different parts of the country.
From the beginning of the War of Independence in 1971 to the end of the War of Liberation, Bengali intellectuals were killed. Especially the Razakars and Al-Badr forces killed many writers in Rayerbazar on 14 December. This sad memory is celebrated on 14th December as Growing Day.
Bengali culture and tradition is very old. However, its modernization has also taken place, its range has also increased a lot in modern times. Jatra, sports, drama, circus, fair, New Year, concert, book fair, Rabindra-Jayanti, Nazrul-Jayanti etc. are notable cultural festivals of Bangladesh.
Fair with creative books published or previously published throughout the year. Book Fair is one of the cultural festivals of Bangladesh. Book fairs are organized in different places of Bangladesh at different times. However, the most notable book fair is the Ekushey Book Fair of Bangla Academy, Dhaka. The fair runs throughout the month of February. Many authors publish their new books at the book fair and many old books are also available here. The Bangla Academy premises became crowded with thousands of people every day. The book fair was also organized by the National Library of Dhaka. However, its range is not as wide as Ekushey Book Fair. At present Ekushey Book Fair has been extended to Suhrawardy Udyan.
The celebration of the birth anniversary of the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam is called Nazrul-Jayanti. The festival is celebrated through various arrangements including songs, dances, recitation of poems and discussions. The memory of the poet is associated with the Trishal upazila of Mymensingh. Nazrul Jayanti is celebrated here for a few days every year.
Like Nazrul Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore is called Rabindra-Jayanti. The poet is remembered through many discussion meetings, cultural programs and plays.
Apart from these, Baishakhi fairs, circuses etc. are organized on the occasion of New Year. These are also cultural festivals. At one time Jatrapala was very popular in Gramegonj. Jatrapala is still at the top of popularity in some rural areas of Bangladesh.
When the Federation Cup Football League, Premier Cricket League, etc. started, the response to the festival fell in the capital city of Dhaka.
The significance of the festival in the life of every human being is very deep and wide. We are independent as a Bengali nation. We have our own traditions and culture. A clear identity of this tradition and culture is found through the festival. Our identity is revealed through the festival. There is no sorrow, pain, inertia, filth in the festival. So the festival places the issue of human strength, equality, friendship above all else. There is no difference between people in the joyous festival premises. The image of a gathering of people of all classes without a festival is unimaginable. When there is a festival in the village, all the villages should be united in the joy of the festival. The importance of the festival in establishing secularism is immense. Because people of one community participate in religious festivals of another community. In this way people are liberated from the small boundaries of communalism. The mutual love and camaraderie of the people of different communities further strengthens their social bonds. On the other hand, national festivals awaken our patriotism. The celebration of Independence and Victory Day awakens our patriotic being and shows us our dream of building a new country. For all these reasons, the importance of the festival is a lot.
Festivals bring joy to people's miserable, busy, monotonous lives. Gives us a new life by removing fatigue and dirt. So people need festivals in their lives. But keep in mind that the festival does not only mean joy, it does not mean arbitrariness. Due to the influence of western culture, many people in our country are doing whatever they want in the name of festivals. E.g., Thirty First Night, etc. Therefore, special care has to be taken. As a result, many of our festivals are now under threat. We need to re-establish the great values of our festival that have helped us to move forward, to nurture our own culture. If we are all aware of this, one nation, one soul and unity will be formed.
