Culture of Bengal

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The culture of Bengal encompasses cultures in the Bengal region, which today consists of the independent nation of Bangladesh (East Bengal), and the Indian federal republic's constitutive state of West Bengal. The two geographical entities share many cultural traits which root from their historical association.

Contents 1 Literature 2 Music 3 Food 4 Attire 5 Festival 6 Cinema and media 7 Sports 8 Notes

[edit] Literature

The Bangla language boasts a rich literary heritage, shared with neighboring Bangladesh. Bengal has a long tradition in folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada, Mangalkavya, Shreekrishna Kirtana, Maimansingha Gitika, Thakurmar Jhuli, and stories related to Gopal Bhar. Bangla literature in the medieval age was often either religious (e.g. Chandidas), or adaptations from other languages (e.g. Alaol). In the nineteenth and twentieth century, Bengali literature was modernized in the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

[edit] Music

The Baul tradition is a unique heritage of Bangla folk music, which has also been influenced by regional music traditions.^[1] Other folk music forms include Gombhira, Bhatiali and Bhawaiya. Folk music in Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. Other instruments include the dotara, dhol, flute, and tabla. The region also has an active heritage in North Indian classical music.

[edit] Food

Rice and fish are traditional favorite foods, leading to a saying that in Bengali, machhe bhate bangali, that translates as "fish and rice make a Bengali".^[2] Meat production has increased significantly in recent years.^[3] Bengalis make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including Rôshogolla, Chômchôm, Kalojam and several kinds of Pithe. Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes includes hilsa preparations, a favorite among Bengalis.

[edit] Attire

Bengali women commonly wear the shaŗi and the salwar kameez, often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men wear Western-style attire. Among men, European dressing has greater acceptance. Men also wear traditional costumes such as the panjabi with dhuti or pyjama, often on religious occasions. The lungi, a kind of long skirt, is widely worn by Bangladesh men.

[edit] Festival

The two Eids, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha are the largest festivals in Bangladesh. Durga Puja in October is the most popular festival in the West Bengal.^[4] Pohela Baishakh (the Bengali New Year), Rathayatra, Dolyatra or Basanta-Utsab, Nobanno, Poush parbon (festival of Poush), Christmas (called Bôŗodin (Great day) in Bangla), Buddha Purnima are other major festivals.

[edit] Cinema and media

Bengali cinema are made both in Kolkata and Dhaka. Mainstream Hindi films of Bollywood are also quite popular in West Bengal and Bangladesh. The Bengali film industry is also known for art films. Its long tradition of filmmaking has produced acclaimed directors like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak. Contemporary directors include Buddhadev Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose, Aparna Sen and Rituparno Ghosh. Around 200 dailies are published in Bangladesh, along with more than 1800 periodicals. However, regular readership is low, nearly about 15% of the population.^[5] West Bengal had 559 published newspapers in 2005,^[6] of which 430 were in Bangla.^[6] Ananda Bazar Patrika, published from Kolkata with 1,130,167 daily copies, has the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language newspaper in India.^[6]

[edit] Sports

Cricket and football are popular sports in the Bengal region. Kolkata is one of the major centers for football in India.^[7] Local games include sports such as Kho Kho and Kabaddi, the later being the national sport of Bangladesh.

[edit] Notes