DHAKA: Bangladesh celebrated Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bengali New Year.
For two years in a row, the Pahela Baishakh celebration remained muted across the country due to coronavirus lockdowns.
This year, as the number of cases decline, the country launched full-scale celebrations to ring in the Bangla New Year 1429.
Considered the most important event in the country’s cultural calendar, this Bengali New Year was welcomed with immense gusto and pomp, even though the transition from spring to summer in this part of the world is not very pleasant because of the scorching heat.
The day started with Chhayanaut’e flagship curtain-raising event at Ramna Batamul in Dhaka at dawn.
“COVID-19 didn’t allow us to celebrate Pahela Baishakh for the past two years.
The celebrations are incomplete if we don’t perform to music at Ramna Batamul, a stage that resonates with non-communal sentiments,” Laisa Ahmed Lisa, General Secretary of Chhayanaut, a premier cultural organisation, told media.
“I am relieved that we have been able to come back and perform here this year.”
Mongol Shobhajatra, a thematic, colourful parade which has been declared a cultural heritage by UNESCO, also made a full-fledged return after a two-year lull. –Agencies
