Flowers float on Dhaka’s Ramna Lake as part of Vaisabi celebrations

Women and children from ethnic minority groups took part in the festivities to welcome the new year

People from Bangladesh’s ethnic minority communities are celebrating the Vaisabi festival by floating flowers on Ramna Lake.

The event was organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Chattogram Affairs on Friday morning.

A colourful procession was also held from the Chattogram Hill Tracts Complex at the capital’s Bailey Road to Ramna Lake. Members of ethnic minority communities from the three hill districts participated in the festivities.

Women and children clad in colourful clothes placed the flowers on banana leaves and watched them float away.

Secretary of Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Ministry Moshiur Rahman told bdnews24.com: “Vaisabi is all about celebrating the New Year and the religious festivals of the people hailing from the hill tracts. We organise this event every year to introduce the townsfolk to the traditions and culture of the ethnic minority groups who live in Bangladesh.”

Later, DIG Vidhan Tripura said: “The Vaisabi festival is a combination of three religious festivals – the Tripuri festival of Vaisu, the Marma festival of Sangrai and the Chakma festival of Biju. People from these three communities get together every year to celebrate the festival.”

Baisabi is known as ‘Phul Biju’ in the Chakma community. The Tripuri call it the ‘Hari Vaisuk’.

Women and children float flowers and lamps on the river and pray for the blessings of the ‘Mother Ganga’. They believe the ritual helps to eliminate evil and disease from their lives.

A woman celebrating the Vaisabi festival at Ramna Lake told bdnews24.com: “We were born in the hills. I had to move to the city to earn a living. But, even when we live away from the hills, we can never forget this festival.”