Culture of Bengal

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Further information: Culture of Bangladesh and Culture of West Bengal

Biggest festival of Bengalis, Pohela Boishakh

The culture of Bengal defines the cultural heritage of the Bengali people native to eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, mainly what is today Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, where they form the dominant ethnolinguistic group and the Bengali language is the official and primary language. Bengal has a recorded history of 1,400 years.[1]

The

British rule.[1]

Fine arts

Performing arts

See also: Performing arts of Bangladesh

Music

See also: Music of Bengal, Music of West Bengal, and Music of Bangladesh

Bengal has produced leading figures of

Nazrul geeti) are highly popular. Bangladesh is the center of Bangla rock, as well as indie, Sufi rock
and fusion folk music.

Theatre

See also: Theatre in Bangladesh

Bengali theater traces its roots to Sanskrit drama under the Gupta Empire in the 4th century CE. It includes narrative forms, song and dance forms, supra-personae forms, performance with scroll paintings, puppet theatre and the processional forms like the Jatra.

Dance

See also: Gaudiya Nritya and Chhau dance

Bengal has an extremely rich heritage of dancing dating back to antiquity. It includes classical, folk and martial dance traditions.[2][3] Dances in Bengal includes-

  • Folk dance (Lokonitrya)
  • Baul dance
  • Chhokra dance
  • Fakir dance
  • Gambhira dance
  • Jari
    dance
  • Lathi
    dance
  • Puppet dance (Putul naach) [4]
Bengali girls performing folk dance in the occasion of Nabanna

Visual arts

Painting

See also: List of Bangladeshi painters
The Ghazi scrolls narrate the story of Ghazi Pir, who was thought to have lived in the Sundarbans some time between the 12th to 13th century.
A Kalighat painting describing a scene from Manasamangal Kavya

Mughal Bengal. Kalighat painting or Kalighat Pat originated in 19th-century Calcutta, in the vicinity of Kalighat Kali Temple of Kolkata, and from being items of souvenir taken by the visitors to the Kali temple, the paintings over a period of time developed as a distinct school of Indian painting. From the depiction of Hindu gods
other mythological characters, the Kalighat paintings developed to reflect a variety of themes.

Modern painting emerged in Calcutta with the

Bengal school. East Pakistan developed its own contemporary painting tradition under Zainul Abedin. Modern Bangladeshi art has produced many of South Asia's leading painters, including SM Sultan, Mohammad Kibria, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Kanak Chanpa Chakma, Kafil Ahmed, Saifuddin Ahmed, Qayyum Chowdhury, Rashid Choudhury, Quamrul Hassan, Rafiqun Nabi and Syed Jahangir among others.[5]

Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Bengal

The earliest fortified cities in the region include

Indo-Saracenic architecture flourished during the British period, particularly among the landed gentry. British Calcutta was known as the City of Palaces. Modernist terracotta architecture in South Asia by architects like Muzharul Islam and Louis Kahn
.

Bengali village housing is noted as the origin of the bungalow.

Sculpture

Nawab of Bengal's Royal Peacock Barge in Murshidabad
.

Ancient Bengal was home to the Pala-Sena school of Sculptural Art.[6] Ivory sculptural art flourished across the region under the Nawabs of Bengal. Notable modernist sculptors include Novera Ahmed and Nitun Kundu.

Lifestyle

Textiles

See also: Textile arts of Bangladesh
Kantha, a Bengali cotton textile
Traditional way of weaving Jamdani.
A Bengali Muslim man sporting a simple black sherwani.

Muslin production in Bengal dates back to the 4th century BCE. The region exported the fabric to Ancient Greece and Rome.[6]

Bengali

Malda
are the centers of the silk industry in West Bengal.

After the reopening of European trade with medieval India, Mughal Bengal became the world's foremost muslin exporter in the 17th century. Mughal-era Dhaka was a center of the worldwide muslin trade.

Mughal Bengal's most celebrated artistic tradition was the weaving of Jamdani motifs on fine muslin, which is now classified by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. Jamdani motifs were similar to Iranian textile art (buta motifs) and Western textile art (paisley). The Jamdani weavers in Dhaka received imperial patronage.[8][9]

Modern Bangladesh is one of the world's

ready made garments industry
.

Clothing

niqab
.

In rural areas, older women wear the

pagri or rumal
.

Jama is the long, loose fitting, stitched garment of

Islamic rules. Jama is similar to dress
.

At Jorashanko (

Mujib Coat, Genji and Kaabli which are unique to the men of Bangladesh
.

Bengal has produced several of South Asia's leading fashion designers, including Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Bibi Russell, Rukhsana Esrar Runi and Rina Latif.

Cuisine

See also:
List of Bengali spices
A very traditional meal of Bengal

Rice is the staple food of Bengal. Bhortas (lit-"mashed") are a really common type of food used as an additive too rice. there are several types of Bhortas such as Ilish bhorta shutki bhorta, begoon bhorta and more. Fish and other seafood are also important because Bengal is a reverrine region.

Some fishes like puti (Puntius species) are fermented. Fish curry is prepared with fish alone or in combination with vegetables.Shutki maach is made using the age-old method of preservation where the food item is dried in the sun and air, thus removing the water content. This allows for preservation that can make the fish last for months, even years in Bangladesh.[13]

Bengali pickles
are an integral part of Bengali cuisine, adding a burst of flavors to meals. These pickles are made by preserving various fruits, vegetables, and even fish or meat in a mixture of spices, oil, and vinegar or lemon juice, which is why pickles of Bangladesh are unique to the country.

Kacchi Biryani, one of the most famous food in Bengali culture

Side Dishes or (Torkari) are commonly eaten with meals in Bengal which are cooked with special

Bengali Muslim community but most of the other Bengali sweets which are made with chenna
are usually invented Hindu and Jain sweets makers of Bengal.

Shutki maach is made using the age-old method of preservation where the food item is dried in the sun and air, thus removing the water content. This allows for preservation that can make the fish last for months, even years in Bangladesh.[14]

Shorshe Ilish (top left), Biryani of Dhaka (top right), Pitha
(bottom)
Eid Al Adha

Transport

Kolkata is the only city in India to have a tram network. The trams are claimed to slow down other traffic, leading to groups who currently voice abolishing the trams, though the environment-friendliness and the old charm of the trams attract many people.

Kolkata was also the first city in South Asia to have an

underground railway system that started operating from 1984. It is considered to have the status of a zonal railway. The metered-cabs are mostly of the brand "Ambassador" manufactured by Hindustan Motors
(now out of production). These taxis are painted with yellow colour, symbolising the transport tradition of Kolkata.

Bangladesh has the world's largest number of

rickshaw art, with each city and region have their own distinct style. Rickshaw driving provides employment for nearly a million Bangladeshis. Historically, Kolkata has been home to the hand-pulled rickshaw
. Attempts to ban its use have largely failed.

There are 150 different types of

boats and canoes in Bengal. The region was renowned for shipbuilding in the medieval period, when its shipyards catered to major powers in Eurasia, including the Mughals and Ottomans
. The types of timber used in boat making are from local woods Jarul (dipterocarpus turbinatus), sal (shorea robusta), sundari (heritiera fomes) and Burma teak (tectons grandis).

Weddings

Bengali Muslim bride and groom
Bengali Hindu wedding
Main article: Bengali wedding (disambiguation)

Bengali weddings includes many rituals and ceremonies that can span several days. Although

Gaye Holud
ceremony is held in Bengali weddings of all faiths.

Cultural institutions, organisations and events

Major organisations responsible for funding and promoting Bengali culture are:

List of institutions and organisations
Festivals
Main articles: List of festivals in Bangladesh and List of festivals in West Bengal

Both Bangladesh and West Bengal have many festivals and fairs throughout the year.

Muslim Hindu Buddhist Christian Secular
Eid al-Fitr Durga Puja
Buddha Purnima
 Christmas
Nababarsha
(New Year/ Summer); Wearing colour:   
Eid al-Adha Kali Puja Madhu Purnima Easter
Basanta Utsab
(Spring Festival); Wearing colour:   
Muharram Saraswati and Lakshmi Puja
Kathin Chibardan
 Barsha Mangal (Monsoon salutation); Wearing colour:   
Milad un Nabi
Dolyatra (Holi
)		 Nabanna (Harvest Festival); Wearing colour:   
Shab-e-Barat
Janmashtami
Poush Sangkranti
(Winter Festival)
Laylat al-Qadr
 Jagaddhatri Puja
Events

Pastimes

See also:
Lost Rural Sports of Bengal

Cinema

Main articles: Cinema of Bangladesh and Cinema of West Bengal

Kolkata and Dhaka are the centers of

Academy Award winning director Satyajit Ray and the Cannes Film Festival award-winning director Tareque Masud
.

Sports

A lathi khela event taking place in Tangail.
A Nouka Baich competition taking place in the monsoon season.

Traditional Bengali sports consisted of various martial arts and various racing sports, though the British-introduced sports of cricket and football are now most popular amongst Bengalis.

Hadudu sport which had no fixed rules. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of Bangladesh was formed in 1973.[21] Butthan, a 20th-century Bengali martial arts invented by Grandmaster Mak Yuree, is now practiced in different parts of the world under the International Butthan Federation.[22]

Mohammed Salim, the first South Asian footballer to play for a foreign club. Due to playing in bare feet, he is having them bandaged by Jimmy McMenemy in 1936.

The Nouka Baich is a Bengali boat racing competition which takes place during and after the rainy season when much of the land goes under water. The long canoes were referred to as khel nao (meaning playing boats) and the use of cymbals to accompany the singing was common. Different types of boats are used in different parts of Bengal.[23] Horse racing was patronised most notably by the Dighapatia Rajas in Natore, and their Chalanbeel Horse Races have continued to take place annually for centuries.

Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan is currently crowned the world's best all-rounder in all formats for ODI cricket,[24] and one of the greatest of all times.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31]

The oldest native football clubs of Bengal was

British Asian to play for the England national football team.[34]

Bengalis are very competitive when it comes to board and home games such as

Kho Kho and Kabaddi
, the latter being the national sport of Bangladesh.

Media

Bangladesh's

Ananda Bazar Patrika, which has the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language newspaper in India. Other prominent Bengali newspapers include the Ittefaq, Jugantor, Samakal, Janakantha and Bartaman. Major English-language newspapers in Bangladesh include The Daily Star, New Age, and the weekly Holiday. The Statesman
, published from Kolkata, is the region's oldest English-language publication.

Literature

Main articles: Bengali literature and Bengali poetry

Bengal has one of the most developed literary traditions in Asia. A descent of ancient

Calcutta developed the modern standardized form of the language in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rabindranath Tagore became the first Bengali writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, and was also the first non-European Nobel laureate. Kazi Nazrul Islam became known as the Rebel Poet of British India. After the partition of Bengal, a distinct literary culture developed in East Bengal, which later became East Pakistan
and Bangladesh.

  • Kazi Nazrul Islam (Bidrohi Kabi; 'the rebel poet')
    Kazi Nazrul Islam (Bidrohi Kabi; 'the rebel poet')
  • Rabindranath Tagore (Biswa Kabi; 'the poet of world')
    Rabindranath Tagore (Biswa Kabi; 'the poet of world')
  • Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar (Father of modern Bengali alphabets and modern Bengali Prose)
    Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar
    (Father of modern Bengali alphabets and modern Bengali Prose)
  • Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (Sahityo Samrat; 'the emperor of literature')
    Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
    (Sahityo Samrat; 'the emperor of literature')
  • Jasimuddin (Polli Kabi; 'the rural poet')
    Jasimuddin (Polli Kabi; 'the rural poet')
  • Lalon Fakir (Baul shamrat; 'the emperor of Bauls')
    Lalon Fakir (Baul shamrat; 'the emperor of Bauls')

Philosophy

The works of ancient philosophers from Bengal have been preserved at libraries in

Atisa and Tilopa.[36] Medieval Hindu philosophy featured the works of Chaitanya
.

Moinuddin Chishti. One of the most revered Sufi saints of Bengal is Shah Jalal
.

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781598846607
    .
  2. ^ Hasan, Sheikh Mehedi (2012). "Dance". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  3. ^ Ahmed, Wakil (2012). "Folk Dances". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Folk Dances - Banglapedia". Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  5. ^ https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Bengal_Art
  6. ^
    ISBN 9781317451679
    .
  7. ^ Van Schendel, Willem (2012). "Silk". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  8. ^ Khandker, Hissam (31 July 2015). "Which India is claiming to have been colonised?". The Daily Star (Op-ed). Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  9. ^ "In Search of Bangladeshi Islamic Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  10. ^ "The panjabi story". 14 June 2016. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Have you heard of Rabindra Vastra? | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  12. OCLC 225391789
    .
  13. ^ Food Product - Banglapedia https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Food_Product Archived 2 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "The shutki trade in Bangladesh". 15 February 2023. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  15. about.com. Archived from the original
    on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  16. ^ "Weddings In India – Wedding in Exotic Indian Locations". www.weddingsinindia.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  17. ^ ঈদ উৎসবের নানা রং Archived 3 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine,সাইমন জাকারিয়া, দৈনিক প্রথম আলো। ঢাকা থেকে প্রকাশের তারিখ: আগস্ট ০২, ২০১৩
  18. ^ "Lathi Khela to celebrate Tangail Free Day". dhakamirror.com. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  19. ^ Zaman, Jaki (10 May 2013). "Jabbarer Boli Khela: Better Than WWE". The Independent. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  20. ^ "Jabbarer Boli Khela tomorrow". The Daily Star. 24 April 2013. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  21. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  22. ^ "Seminar on Butthan Combat Sports & Co-competition system held". United News of Bangladesh. 13 October 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  23. OL 30677644M
    . Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Bangladeshi Player Shakib Al Hasan named best all-rounder in all formats by ICC: Some interesting facts about the cricketer". India Today. New Delhi, India. 27 June 2015.
  25. ^ "Why Shakib Al Hasan is one of cricket's greatest allrounders". ESPNcricinfo. 23 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  26. ^ "Where does Shakib rank among the greatest all-rounders?". The Business Standard. 15 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  27. ^ Cricfrenzy.com, Z. Ahmed (1 August 2020). ""I don't play to be the best all-rounder of all time": Shakib Al Hasan". cricfrenzy.com. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Why Shakib Al Hasan is one of cricket's greatest allrounders". ESPN. 24 March 2020. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  29. ^ Parida, Bastab K. (5 July 2019). "Greatest all-rounder of 21st century debate – where does Shakib Al Hasan stand?". SportsCafe.in. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  30. ^ "Best All-Rounders in Cricket History". TheTopTens. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Is Shakib Al Hasan a greater allrounder than Garry Sobers?". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  32. ^ Breck, A. Alan Breck's Book of Scottish Football. Scottish Daily Express, 1937, cited in "Salim, Mohammed". All time A to Z of Celtic players. thecelticwiki.org. 29 May 2006. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013. See also, "Barefooted Indian who left Calcutta to join Celtic". The Scotsman. 12 December 2008. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  33. ^ Scottish Daily Express, 29 August 1936, cited in Majumdar, B. and Bandyopadhyay, K. A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score Archived 18 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Routledge, 2006, p. 68.
  34. ^ Trehan, Dev (2 September 2019). "Hamza Choudhury can be first British South Asian to play for England, says Michael Chopra". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  35. ^ Prabhakaran, Shaji (18 January 2003). "Football in India – A Fact File". LongLiveSoccer.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-26.
  36. ^ Islam, Aminul (2012). "Philosophy". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
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