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Pahela Falgun, Valentine's Day being celebrated  

| Updated: February 14, 2020 19:15:46


A bird sits on the petals of Palash flower to sip honey signaling the advent of spring. The photograph was taken from Dhaka University campus in the city on Thursday — FE photo by KAZ Sumon A bird sits on the petals of Palash flower to sip honey signaling the advent of spring. The photograph was taken from Dhaka University campus in the city on Thursday — FE photo by KAZ Sumon

Youths with their animated vigour and colourful mind are joining the celebrations of Pahela Falgun, a festival welcoming the advent of spring, on Friday to leave a message to all that love, affection, respect and commitment should be cornerstones of removing all ills and building the nation.

The capital Dhaka and other major cities of the country are ablaze with mirth and merriment as curious youngsters wear yellow and red dresses, flower-made ornaments and attend traditional musical functions, reports BSS.

Bangalees mark the spring festival on the first day of Bengali month of Falgun. It is also called Basanta Utsab. It usually falls on February 13 but this year it coincided with Valentine’s Day on February 14 which has also become a major day of celebration to the festival-loving Bangalees especially the youths.

Recently Bangla Academy has revised Bangla Calendar to match it with the Gregorian calendar aimed at observing the significant days in line with the historic background.

From now on, the first six months of Bangla year will have 31 days, and the last six months of the year will have a length of 30 days, except for the month Falgun. In that way, Pahela Falgun coincided with Valentine’s Day this year.

Country’s business community is not happy with the Bangla Academy’s move as they think coincidence of the festivals on the same day is cutting their profit. If the festivals were celebrated on separate days, they could have earned more profits.

Many youths also did not welcome the Bangla Academy’s decision as they think each calendar could have some unique characteristics and there is no need to make changes.

Though Pahela Falgun is being celebrated officially today, a large number of people specially youths celebrated it yesterday.

Clad in yellow sarees and panjabis, a huge crowd thronged the Dhaka University campus which is considered the centre point of the celebration.

Festival loving people in Dhaka are formally celebrating the festival today. Youths had already taken preparations to welcome the advent of spring in a befitting manner.

City markets were seen overcrowded with purchasers buying colorful panjabees and sarees and other traditional dresses ahead of the festival.

Different brands of garment products, shoes and ornaments are also giving special offer for customers on the eve of the two major festivals.

Newspapers have been also publishing special supplements for the last couple of days carrying the message of the festival.

Thousands of people specially the youths across the country are welcoming the arrival of spring with attiring colorful “bashonti” (yellow or orange colored) dresses particularly yellow or red panjabis and sarees and presenting flowers to their soul mates as a token of their profound love for each other.

Clad in yellow attires with brunches of flowers in the hair bun and hands, hundreds of young girls and boys are thronging the Bakultala on the premises of Fine Arts Faculty at Dhaka University (DU), the centre point of the festival to celebrate spring, to sing songs, recite poems and dance. Ramna Park, Rabindra Sarobar and Hatirjheel draw a huge crowd on that day.

The entire DU campus including Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), Arts Faculty, Curzon Hall, University Mall (Mall Chattar) and the compound of Amar Ekeushy Granthamela turns into the best place to hang out with friends, family members and beloved ones on the day.

Jatiya Boshonto Utshab Udjapan Parishad has been arranging the main programme of the day for around two decades. The parishad is arranging different programmes including rendering songs and recitation of poems except regular programmes.

The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair is expected to draw a huge crowd as the book-loving people would love to visit the fair on the very special day with their friends and family members.

As spring has arrived with blossom of flowers and new leaves in trees, nature is getting fresher and colorful shape that touch hearts and minds of all ages of people.

The spring has been depicted as the king of all seasons in poetry for its extra-ordinary beauty of nature. After the dryness of winter, new leaves start to come out again and the nature adorns the branches with new colorful flowers like Shimul, Polash and Marigold denoting the message of arrival of spring.

In nature, it is considered that “Krishnachura” flower brings the message of arrival of spring.

Famous excerpt of Subhash Mukhopadhyay “Phul phutuk na phutuk, aaj Boshonto” beautifully depicts the advent of Basanta Utsab.

“O wind, If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”, a way English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley described the arrival of spring in his famous poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’.

Everything in nature gives an impression of youthfulness or freshness as if the nature takes a new birth. Colorful flowers, melody of birds or mild touch of the sunshine – everything will make one feel that springtime is the nature’s festival.

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