Today the south door is open, Come on, come on, come on, come on, my spring.
I’ll give you a heartbeat, Come on, come on, come on, come on, my spring.
When nature opens its south door, Fagun Hawa starts in the book, sweet nectar is heard in the cuckoo’s voice, Ashoka-Palash-Shimule awakens the wave of colour, Krishnacura, Radhachura, Naglingam, which are in the winter shell, come out and these flowers bloom. Game; it was then that the arrival of Rajadhiraja, Rituraj Basanta, took place with great vigour.
On the first day of Falgun, Rituraj is officially inaugurated, and nature takes on a colourful outfit to welcome him. New leaves, new flowers grow on the trees. Everyone seems to be trying hard to hide the dryness of the drunken winter. Of course, if the flowers do not bloom, the arrival of spring can not be suppressed in any way. Because the poet has said, ‘Flowers are blooming and not blooming today is spring.’
In Bangladesh, the spring festival is celebrated with great pomp on February 13 every year. After Pohela Boishakh, it is like the festival of the second life of Bengalis. On this day, along with nature, the people of Bengal became dressed up. The day is celebrated not only in Bengal but also in other states of India including West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Orissa. But have you ever wondered when and how the custom of celebrating the spring festival came to be with so much happening? I will present that account to you now.
Dolayatra Or Holi
The oldest form of spring festival is rooted in Dolayatra. Dolayatra is held on the full moon day of the month of Falgun. And Radha-Krishna lives in the heart of it. They are worshipped by sitting on a cradle. In northern India it is called Holi, in Bengal, it is known as Dol.
It is known from history that this festival was born in the hands of the ancient Aryan people in the eastern part of India. This festival has been celebrated for hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. A specimen of this festival was found as a stone carving in 300 BC. The festival is also mentioned in the Hindu holy books of Vedas and Puranas.
There are also many more places for this festival. In the third-fourth centuries, Batsyayana composed his world-famous ‘Kamasutra’. There is a description of the entertainment of men and women sitting on the cradle. A love drama was written in Sanskrit during the reign of King Harshavardhana in the seventh century, there was also a description of Holi. Krishna’s ‘Ratnabali’ written in the seventh century and ‘Malati-Madhav’ written in the eighth century are also seen in this festival. Jimutabahan’s ‘Kalbibek’ and the sixteenth century ‘Raghunandan’ cannot be left out of the list. Later, the pattern of playing Holi can be seen in many temples across India.
Early in India, the British confused the festival with the Roman festival of Lupercalia. Many compared it to the Greek festival of Bacanalia.
The Vaishnava Faith Of Dolayatra
Behind the Dol festival celebrated are some of the original beliefs of Vaishnavism. One of those beliefs is that on the day of Dolpurnima (another name for Falguni Purnima), Sri Krishna used to play with Abir and Gulal in Vrindavan with Radha and other gopis. And because of that, now on the day of Dolpurnima, the twin idols of Radha and Krishna are bathed in Abir-Gulale and the procession is taken out on the cradle. And with that Sri Krishnakirtan continues. At the end of the procession, the fans themselves get involved in the game of painting each other.
Different Beliefs Behind Holi
The Holi festival is celebrated in northern India one day after the Bengal pilgrimage. But the story behind their Holi celebrations is completely different. At the heart of that story is the giant king Hiranyakashipu and his sister Holika. They were both very cruel and ruthless. Hiranyakashipu got the gift of being invincible and so he did not worship any god. He used to believe that one should worship any deity, not him.
But Hiranyakashipur’s son Prahlad was born in the Asura dynasty and was also a pious devotee of Vishnu. He did not agree to obey his father’s orders. As a result, Hiranyakashipu became enraged and tried in various ways to punish his son, but failed each time. Finally, after forgetting Prahlad, Holika entered the burning cheetah with him. Although he kept Prahlad open, he put on a fire-retardant shawl. But by the grace of Vishnu, as the fire intensified, the shawl of Holika’s body flew away and covered Prahlad. And Holika was burnt in the fire.
By that time Vishnu arrived, Hiranyakashipu lost his life in his hands. So the fire of that chitah is a symbol of victory of good over evil. And since Holika was burnt in that fire, Holi festival is celebrated the next day. In Bengal, however, on the eve of the swing, a special bahni-festival is organised by burning straw/wood/bamboo, which is known as nerapora or holikadahan.
How Spring Festival Came To Bengal
The custom of celebrating this festival was also introduced in Bengal in imitation of the festival that was held in the month of Falgun in Puri. However, we should not forget about Bengal’s own tradition centred on the spring festival. Rasmela or rasayatra was also introduced in spring in the Middle Ages. Rasmela originates from Navadwip, which is famous for Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanyadev. Rasmela is held in different parts of Bangladesh including Khulna in spring.
There are kirtan songs and dance halls. Besides, in ancient and medieval Bengal, Buddhists used to welcome the spring by celebrating the full moon of Falguni.
In 1575, Emperor Akbar introduced the Akbari year or crop year as the Bengali calendar. At the same time, the tradition of celebrating 14 festivals every year was also introduced. One of them was the spring festival. At that time people from all communities of Bengal used to take part in various folk festivals and fairs in the spring. However, in those days there was no opportunity for extravagance in the village arrangements.
According to Vaishnava belief, on the day of Falguni Purnima or Dolpurnima, in Vrindavan, Lord Krishna used to play with Abir and Gulal, Radhika and other gopis. That is the origin of the swing game. On the morning of the pilgrimage, the idols of Radha and Krishna were bathed in Abir and Gulale and the procession was taken out on a cradle with kirtan songs. Then the fans played with each other with Abir and Gulal. Falguni full moon is called Dolpurnima in connection with the Dol festival. It is also called Gaurpurnima as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born on this full moon day.
Dol or Holi is also a social event behind religious affiliation, which has a universal appeal. There is also a secular aspect to the Dolayatra festival. Now not only Holi is being played among the followers of traditional religions, but also among men and women of all religions.
At the time Emperor Akbar introduced the Akbari year or crop year as the Bengali calendar, the tradition of celebrating 14 festivals was also introduced. One of them was the spring festival. People of all communities of Bengal used to take part in various folk festivals and fairs in the spring. The tradition of celebrating spring in Pahela Falgun is also traditional.
The tradition of celebrating Basantotsav through special dance songs in Santiniketan has been going on since the time of Rabindranath Tagore. Yet that trend continues. According to another source, Shamindranath Tagore, the youngest son of Rabindranath Tagore, started the season festival in 1908. The festival started in front of Pran Kuthi in Santiniketan on that day.
Now, of course, the lifeblood of that day is known as Shamindra Library. That seasonal festival is today’s spring festival. Earlier, this festival was held on any day of spring. Later, however, the festival was held on the day of the spring full moon. This festival, of course, is a festival to welcome the season of spring.
It is also known from history that this festival originated from the ancient Aryan people of the eastern part of India. The history of the celebration of Holi shows that Holi has been celebrated for hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. An example of this festival is found in a stone carving about 300 years before the birth of Christ.
This festival is also mentioned in the Hindu holy books Vedas and Puranas. The Holi festival is also described in a love play written in Sanskrit during the reign of King Harshavardhana in the 600s. Later, in the paintings carved on different temples, the pattern of playing Holi came to light in different ways.
Spring Festival At Santiniketan
Since the time of Rabindranath Tagore, the Spring Festival has been celebrated in Santiniketan with special dance songs, which are attended by thousands of students, teachers and others from all over the country and abroad. The festival started in 1908 with the help of Shamindranath Tagore, the youngest son of the world poet. He named it ‘Rituranga Utsav’.
The festival begins in front of the Pran Kuthi in Seba Santiniketan. Now, of course, the name of the factory has changed. Everyone now knows it as Shamindra Library. However, that seasonal festival has not been lost but has gained more popularity in the evolution of time under the name of the spring festival.
Earlier, this festival was celebrated on any one day of spring, but now it is celebrated on the full moon day of spring or falguni. The night before the festival is Baitalik. In the morning, the main program started with the song ‘Ore Grihabasi Khol Dwar Khol’. In the evening, a play by Rabindranath was staged at Gaur Prangan. Every year more than two lakh people gather at Santiniketan on the occasion of this festival.
Bangladesh Celebrates Spring Festival In Pakistan Era
It is as if the tidal wave of youth and the tide of unbridled emotion has merged with the Palasharanga day of February 8, 1952, or Ekushey February. Immortal language martyrs like Salam-Barkat-Shafiq-Jabbar defended the honour of their mother tongue by painting the streets with fresh blood on their chests that day.
However, the Pakistani rulers not only wanted to take away Bengali, the language spoken by the people of East Bengal but also started attacking the abhorrent culture of Bengalis. In protest of this, the Bengalis of East Bengal, ignoring the eye-rolling of the Pakistani rulers, became interested in restoring their cultural heritage. And so from the sixties onwards, the trend of wearing a yellow sari in the first falgun among Bengali girls started anew.
There may not have been any sari available in the market at that time, but among the educated and cultured young women, there was a sincere love for Falgun. So they would wake up the night before Falgun and paint with the sari. Or those who could not do such hard perseverance would at least come out wearing a yellow or basanti-coloured sari, wearing a garland of marigold flowers around their necks, chrysanthemum-rose-jarbara-nightingale in their ears.
History Of Spring Festival At Dhaka University
Today, the University of Dhaka has contributed to the fact that the first day of spring i.e. Pahela Falgun has become one of the largest public festivals in the whole of Bangladesh. More specifically, a group of students from the Faculty of Fine Arts of this university.
In 1991, they celebrated the spring festival without any preparation. On the eve of the first Falgun of the service, some girls of the Faculty of Fine Arts bought sari and printed blocks at night when they became friends. The next day they appeared in their faculty wearing that sari. As always, the Amar Ekushey Book Fair was going on at the nearby Bangla Academy, which added to the frenzy of extra festivities among them.
A few days before that, the dictatorial military ruler Ershad had fallen. To celebrate the victory of the anti-authoritarian movement, flowers, butterflies and birds were already made with coloured paper. The boys of the 69th batch took them in their hands and took out a colourful procession with the girls wearing colourful saris. As the procession circled the campus, participants were reciting childish rhymes memorised from childhood. All in all, an unprecedented festive atmosphere was created at Dhaka University.
The following year, in 1992, the art students celebrated the spring by holding a small ceremony with Abir on each other’s faces as a symbol of friendship. In 1993, the Holi festival was organised on the campus of Pahela Falgun. Thus, the foundation stone of the spring festival was laid at Dhaka University.
The Beginning Of The Official Spring Celebration
Although it started with the students of fine arts, the students of other faculties of Dhaka University soon became interested in the arrival of spring. Therefore, 1994 onward, the celebration of the spring festival officially started in the fine arts of Dhaka University. Since then, the National Spring Festival Celebration Committee has been organising regular festivals at Bakultala of Charukala and Rabindrasarovar in Dhanmondi.
Besides, the spring festival is now celebrated at Battala in front of Kala Bhavan and also at Bahadur Shah Park, Laxmibazar, in Old Dhaka. Rabindranath, Nazrul, Jibanananda, Atul Prasad, Jasimuddin, Shah Abdul Karim’s invaluable creations aroused the minds of Bengalis in these events of Basanta Abahan.
The First Day Of Love Is Falgun
Love is flowing in the sky, the eyes are intoxicated
behind the call! Spring has come…
That’s right. For many, spring is the season of love. Rituraj should come with the message of love. Looking at the western culture, Valentine’s Day has been introduced in our country for several decades, but in our sky, in the air, in the heart-mind, the spring of our own tradition is no less.
On the contrary, with the advent of spring and Valentine’s Day a day before and after, the first falgun is considered the day of true love for many who want to capture the Bengali culture in their minds. On this day, nature is swaying in the swing of new leaves, and at the same time, the emotional mind of the people who are thirsty for love is also swaying. There are many who wait all year to express their feelings to the people they love on this day. On this day, on the streets, in the parks, in the recreation centres, above all on the university campus, there is a familiar scene of lovers wearing basanti sari-Punjabi.