This year once again we are going to celebrate the first day of
spring Pohela Falgun. Spring or Boshonto consists of two months Falgun and
Choitra. We celebrate the first day of Falgun to welcome Boshonto, the season
of flowers and all the vibrant colours.
The advent of Falgun wipes away the dry and chilling elements of
winter with a subtle touch of warmness. But how much do we know about Pohela
Falgun apart from this that the girls roam around the DU campus wrapping
themselves up in striking colours and that it is a great day for the love
birds?
According to the history of Mughal period Emperor Akbar started
the Bengali year in 1585 AD with the intention of collecting revenue by
following the solar year. At that time nowroz or the first day of the Bengali
year was celebrated with great enthusiasm. Emperor Akbar who was secular in
nature abolished all Muslim festivals and introduced fourteen new festivals for
the new Bengali year.
The names of the months were not like the present form at that
time. It is not known exactly when they became Boiskakh, Jaishthya etc. but all
these names were derived from the names of the stars.
The
name Falgun came from the star Falguni. The reason behind the naming after
starts is that in the Vedic Age (1500 BC) the rishis (ancient Indian scholars)
had an obsession with astrology and the stars. Though they use to follow the
solar year the mention of Falguni (spring) full moon in Vedic Literature
suggests that lunar months were also calculated. Probably the traditional
inclination of the rishis to the moon and stars led to the naming of the months
after stars.
The significance of Pohela Falgun is very singular in our
national life. The way we celebrate Pohela Boishakh and Pohela Falgun in
Bangladesh these days started to flourish after the arousal of Bengali
Nationalism in 1950s and 1960s.
After the Language Movement people of East Pakistan started to
celebrate festivals which were related to the Bengali culture silently defying
the anti-Bengali attitude of the then Pakistan Government.
Cultural bodies and general people started celebrating these
events with Tagore songs which was banned in 1960s. So celebrating Pohela
Falgun was not for having fun only at that time. It was a display of our nationalism.
In the
pre-independence period these days worked as a way to flaunt Bengali
Nationalism. Unfortunately fundamentalist elements are still in full swing in
our country to spoil our national spirit. So it is time again that we start
celebrating Pohela Falgun with a renewed enthusiasm with which it was
celebrated in the pre-independence period.
The days Pohela Falgun and Boishakh are our two efforts at
warding off fundamentalist and anti- nationalistic forces.
These two days are parts of our National Heritage and National
History like the Independence Day, the Victory Day and the Language Martyrs
Day.
These are meant not for fashion conscious people and love birds
only. These days were and are a way to protest fundamentalism, a way to defy
racist bans and to protect our national pride and glory.
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