Calls to look towards the ‘open sky’ as Bangladesh celebrates Bangla New Year

As dawn broke on Sunday, thousands of Bangladeshis swarmed to join the Mangal Shobhajatra, a celebratory procession marking the Bangla New Year, organised by Dhaka University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, commonly known as Charukola.

The masks of a king and a queen, followed by their subjects, were at the head of this year's parade. A flock of birds, an orange owl, a two-headed horse, a tree of life, a cattle, a woodpecker, a group of traditional dolls, tigers and egrets propped up the procession.  

The theme of this year’s Mangal Shobhajatra is 'Mastak Tulite Dao Ananta Akashe’  (Let us raise our heads towards the open sky) – an excerpt of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore.

The poem features in a popular book named 'Naibedya', written by Tagore, who penned the national anthems of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

The procession started from Charukola around 9 am at the end of Chhayanaut’s event at Ramna Batamul commemorating the first sunrise of Baishakh.

Changes were made to the route of this year’s parade due to the construction of the Metrorail as revellers meandered through the Teacher Students Centre and the Dhaka Club before ending the march at the altar of Raju Sculpture.

People of all ages and from all walks of life took part in the parade by carrying masks, dolls and swinging to the beats of drums and other musical instruments.

Upholding the spirit of secular identity, the annual parade was first observed in 1989 in protest against the autocratic rule of HM Ershad. It was subsequently named ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ in 1996 and was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2016.

Fine Arts Faculty Dean Prof Nisar Hossain, who is also the convenor of the parade, told bdnews24.com, “Bangladesh is developing but we have yet to tackle challenges in many sectors. That's why we have to look back on Tagore's poems for inspiration. This year, we picked the theme  to highlight the many challenges that still exist."

Police, Rapid Action Battalion along with other law enforcement personnel provided tight security during the parade. They were aided in their efforts by DU’s Bangladesh National Cadet Corps members.

DU Vice-Chancellor Md Akhtaruzzaman inaugurated the parade and said, `it (the march) is now a part of global heritage."

“The procession has a magical power. It is a way to develop values. That's why it will last forever."