Chhayanaut’s Pahela Baishakh celebrations to go online, Mangal Shobhajatra cancelled

Chhayanaut will hold the flagship curtain raiser welcoming the Pahela Baishakh online instead of at the traditional venue Ramna Batamool this time due to the raging coronavirus outbreak.

Initially, the performers of the organisation had rehearsed to hold its iconic cultural function at the venue without a live audience or even record it earlier than the day of Bangla New Year.

“As the coronavirus situation has worsened in the country and the government has taken practical decisions as preventive measures, we feared for the health of our artists,” it said in a statement on Monday.

“Some of our artists have already contracted the coronavirus. All these things have compelled us to design a digital programme, including old and new performances,” Laisa Ahmad Lisa, general secretary of Chhayanaut, said in the statement.

Bangladesh Television will broadcast the programme at dawn of the first day of the Bangla New Year on Wednesday, when Bangladesh will enter a new and strict lockdown as part of efforts to limit the spread of the virus.

The programme is a short, symbolic and digital version of the Bangla New Year celebrations which will include songs and messages highlighting people’s welfare and marking the golden jubilee of independence, Chhayanaut said.

“We apologise for being unable to hold the big celebrations which are a part of the tradition for the Bengalis and hope that good days will be back soon,” it added.

The colours of soil are dominant in the Pahela Baishakh wall paintings by teachers and students of Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts amid the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

The organisers have also cancelled the traditional Mangal Shobhajatra parade on the Dhaka University campus.

The university said masks, festoons and other pieces of art made for the procession will be shown in the electronic media.

It had earlier decided to go ahead with the procession from the Faculty of Fine Arts with a handful of participants by keeping physical distancing, but finally scrapped the plan.

The university said no gatherings will be allowed on the campus on Pahela Baishakh.