DHAKA: Thousands of Bangladeshis crowded the streets of Dhaka on Sunday to welcome the Bengali New Year in a colorful and festive celebration reconnecting them with their traditional heritage.
In the capital, people were dressed in traditional attire with many clad in red as they marched and danced in a procession that began at a prominent arts college on the Dhaka University campus, Arab News reported.
UNESCO recognized the parade, called Mangal Shobhajatra, as an intangible cultural heritage in 2016.
Sunday was a national holiday in Bangladesh. This year, the Bengali New Year (Pohela Boishakh) took place right after the Eid Al-Fitr vacations, with various celebrations taking place across the nation of 170 million people.
The Bengali calendar emerged under the sixteenth-century Mughal emperor Akbar, who merged Islamic and solar Hindu calendars to facilitate tax collection.
New Year Celebrations in Bangladesh a Medium of Protest
The New Year celebrations in Bangladesh have also been a medium of demonstration against all types of irregularities and oppression in society, particularly in recent years, said Prof. Muntasir Mamun, a noted Bangladeshi historian.
He said that this Mangal Shobhajatra was first arranged (in 1989) as a protest against the then military ruler of the country. Mangal Shobhajatra is the only secular festival globally that originated as a tool of demonstration, and to date, it holds the same spirit.
He added that it is a rally of festivity, joy, and demonstration also. The fine arts department (Dhaka University) always arranges the rally without any corporate sponsor. They do it with the participation of the people and by the little contributions from the public.
Mamun said that this approach made the Mangal Shobhajatra a platform for all the people of Bangladesh.
