The Baha Bonga festival of the Santal community was observed, demanding national recognition, at Jahangirnagar University of Savar in Dhaka on Friday.
The festival, organised by the Baha Bonga Celebration Committee at the university鈥檚 Saptam Chhaya Mancha, showcased the rich heritage of the Santal people.
Dressed in traditional attires, women and men of Santal community participated in the festival playing the madal and the dhamsa drums.
The festival drew Santal attendees from various parts of the country along with university students eager to experience the cultural extravaganza.
The celebration featured rituals dedicated to the deities, flower distribution, music performances, spear-throwing and the Baha Dance.
Harendranath Singh, director of the Rajshahi Divisional Ethnic Cultural Academy, explained the significance of the festival, 鈥楤aha Festival is an integral part of the Santal culture. The festival is celebrated during spring when flowers bloom, especially on Sal trees.鈥�
In the language of Santal people, 鈥楤aha鈥� means flower, and this festival is a way for our community to seek blessings for prosperity and well-being, he mentioned.
Just as other communities鈥� people celebrate their traditional festivals such as 鈥楯hum鈥� or 鈥楶ahela Baishakh鈥�, we also observe Baha Bonga, said Nirala Mardi, convener of the Baha Bonga Celebration Committee in Dhaka.
Emphasising the need for national recognition of the festival, he hopes, 鈥楾his festival will one day receive official recognition at the state level.鈥�
The closing session of the event featured discussions on the importance of preserving Santal culture and traditions as an essential part of the broader Bengali heritage.
On the festival day, Naikey, the priest, starts the celebration by purifying their doors with dung and by performing a ritual by sacrificing hens for Jaher Ara, the God.
Later, the people of Santal community went to the Jaher Than, holy grove, in their village, offer flowers and leaves of the Sal tree and set up an abode for the deity.
The worshipping place for Bonga-Buru is also washed, marking the celebration.