Bangla New Year celebrations underway at Ramna Batamul

The welcoming ceremony of Bangla New Year has begun at its traditional venue Ramna Batamul with the first rays of today’s morning sun after two long years.

The country’s leading cultural organisation Chhayanaut has resumed its programmes after the two-year break due to the Covid situation.

Festival-loving people arrived at the event like always.

This year, celebrations began at 6:15am on Thursday with artist Sravanti Dhar presenting a raga (a melodic framework) to welcome the Bengali New Year-1429.

Then the artists from Chhayanaut performed Tagore’s famous song “Mon Jago Mangalaloke” under the banyan tree at the capital’s Ramna Park.

Apart from them, teachers of Chhayanaut are presenting solo and duet performances.

The celebration will end with the organisation President Sanjida Khatun’s speech.

Chhayanaut was established during the Pakistan era with an aim to promote and nurture the cultural and musical heritage of Bengal among the masses in 1961.

The organisation has been organising cultural programmes annually to celebrate Pahela Baishakh at Ramna Batamul since 1967.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqul Islam has said all public events marking Pahela Baishakh must be ended by 2pm due to the month of Ramadan. None will be allowed to enter Ramna Park after 1 pm.

The Chhayanat is asked to wrap up its celebration programmes by 11 am while the authority concerned are advised to end the fair activities on Ramna premises by 2 pm so that people could go back to their homes or convenient places to have their iftar of Ramadan month.