Culture of Dhaka

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Baitul Mukarram, the national mosque
Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year) celebrations
Panta Ilish – a traditional platter of Panta bhat, with fried ilish
slice
Bengali
This article contains Bengali text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Dhaka is the most populous city of Bangladesh and is characterized by its busy urban life with varied culture including many festivities, a variety of cuisine, an entertainment industry, shopping experiences and sites of interest. These nature of these activities mirrors the secular character of the city's population.[1] Important holidays include Language Movement Day, Independence Day, Victory Day and Pahela Boishakh. Religious festivals include Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Durga Puja, Buddha Purnima etc. Dhaka is known as the center of media and cinema of Bangladesh, housing many of Bangladesh's important academies. The culture of Dhaka is based on the culture of Bengal.[2]

Festivals

See also: Culture of Bangladesh

Dhaka's annual cultural events, festivals and celebrations are

Buddha Purnima
and the Christian festival of Christmas.

Many of Dhaka's artworks and museums, as well as public ceremonies and rallies, serve to commemorate the war crimes committed by Pakistani war criminals and their collaborators against the Bangladeshi people. Dhaka's people congregate at the

Bengali Language Movement and the Bangladesh Liberation War.[3]
Many schools and colleges organize fairs, festivals and concerts in which citizens from all levels of society participate.

cockfights, flying pigeons, and boat racing were once also popular. In Dhaka, large crowds of people gather on the streets of Shahbag, Ramna Park and the campus of the University of Dhaka
for celebrations.

Other festivities include, Bengali Spring Festival, Nazrul Joyonti, Birthday of

Bengal-ITC SRA Classical Music Festival
.

Performing arts and media

See also:
Media of Bangladesh

Despite the growing popularity of music groups and rock bands, traditional folk music remains widely popular.[4] The works of the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and national anthem writer Rabindranath Tagore have a widespread following across Dhaka.[5] The Baily Road area, known as Natok Para (Theater Neighborhood), is the center of Dhaka's theater movement.[6]

Channel 9 Bangladesh and Independent TV
are amongst the most popular channels.

The main offices of most publishing houses in Bangladesh are based in Dhaka. The Prothom Alo and The Daily Ittefaq are the most popular amongst the large number of Bengali language dailies, periodicals and other publications in the city.[citation needed] The Daily Star and The Independent are among the English dailies published.[7]

Fixed-line teledensity in Bangladesh is less than 1%. Mobile penetration is 82 telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.[8][9]

Dhaka is home to Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka World Music Festival.

Media and cinema

Main articles:
Media of Bangladesh and Cinema of Bangladesh

The Bangladeshi press is diverse, outspoken and privately owned. Over 200 newspapers are published in the country.

Freedom of the media
remains a major concern, due to government attempts at censorship and harassment of journalists.

The

FIPRESCI at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 for his film The Clay Bird. Other prominent directors of Bangladesh cinema include Tanvir Mokammel, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Humayun Ahmed, Alamgir Kabir and Chashi Nazrul Islam
.

Cuisine

See also:
Cuisine of Bangladesh

In Dhaka, meals consumed at home generally include plain rice as staple with fish, meat, vegetable curries as side.

Shingara, and samosa are common. Borhani and lacchhi are amongst popular drinks. Street carts in parks offer snacks like Chotpoti, Jhalmuri and Fuchka
.

Some restaurants are famous for their specialised recipes and culinary experience. These include, Nannar Biryani,

Rumali ruti, Tandoor ruti, naan, bakorkhani, Ilish polao, and Morog polao.[11]

People of the city consume a varied diet. In addition to the popular

Bangladeshi cuisine and South Asian variants, a large variety of international cuisine is available in Dhaka. There are restaurants specializing in Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Italian, and other western cuisines.[12]
Local and international fast food shops and chains serve burgers, fries and other readily available foods. Often many restaurants customize foreign cuisine to meet the taste of local people. For instance, most Chinese restaurants in Dhaka use recipes different from authentic Chinese food.

The following international foreign-owned restaurant chains are currently operating in the country:

Shopping

See also: List of shopping malls in Bangladesh

There are markets in almost every part of Dhaka, where household commodities are available. Shopping malls are also found in every major avenue; some of them are

12th largest shopping mall in the world with a gross leasable area of 4.1 million sq ft and total area of 5.45 million sq ft.[13][14]

Chain stores like Shopno, Agora, Meena Bazar, Nondon, PQS are also found in most of the residential areas of the city. There are many branches of Aarong around the city where local products including clothing, handicrafts, groceries and home decor are available.

Bangla Bazar is the largest hawkers market in Dhaka. The market is situated near Chankharpul behind the campus of the

Basundhara City
is the second largest mall in the country and has more than 2,300 shops and 21 stories.

Dress

A jamdani-muslin shari in a traditional design

The most popular dressing styles for women are

shælwar kameez, while men usually prefer western clothing to the traditional lungi. Dhaka is credited for the revival of the jamdani sari due to the many local sari stores selling and promoting these locally hand-made traditional Bengali saris of fine patterned muslin. Jamdanis are entirely hand woven and originate from the Mughal era. Jamdanis are produced by a traditional high quality cottage industry, which is slowly dying out due to the slow production process. A single medium-range Jamdani sari may take as long as 3 months to complete.[15]

Heritage

The Old City of Dhaka is home to over 2,000 buildings built between the 16th and 19th centuries, which form an integral part of Dhaka's cultural heritage.

Academies

Burdwan House is home to the Bangla Academy.
University of Dhaka students prepare for Bengali New Year celebrations at the Faculty of Fine Arts

Museums and art galleries

Major parks, lakes and gardens

An amphitheater in Dhanmondi lake

Religious and Cultural Festival

Official religious holidays

See also

References

  1. ^ "সংস্কৃতির শহর ঢাকা". দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক (in Bengali). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Dhaka city | History, Places, Culture | The Enterprise World". 11 February 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Ahmed, Dr. Nizamuddin (27 September 2006). "Happy 400th anniversary, Dhaka!". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2006.
  4. ISBN 3-85313-051-8
    .
  5. ISBN 0-8240-4946-2
    .
  6. ISBN 0-415-23866-8
    .
  7. ISBN 0-7627-4090-6
    .
  8. ^ "Bangladesh Profile". International Telecommunication Union (ITU). 2013.
  9. ^ "Mobile Phone Subscribers in Bangladesh August, 2015". Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
  10. ^ "Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra's Rashidul Hossain passes away". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  11. ISBN 0-7172-5698-7
    .
  12. ^ Lawson, Alistair (1 June 2002). "Good times for bourgeois Bangladeshis". BBC News. Retrieved 2 October 2006.
  13. ^ "Features". Jamuna Future Park. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  14. ^ "Jamuna Future Park opens soon". Daily Sun. 7 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  15. doi:10.1017/s002191180700126x
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Culture_of_Dhaka&oldid=1217140209"