Revellers attend a ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ (rally) in celebration of the Bengla New Year or “Pohela Boishakh” in Dhaka on April 14, 2016.
Revellers attend a ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ (rally) in celebration of the Bengla New Year or “Pohela Boishakh” in Dhaka on April 14, 2016. The Bengali calendar or Bangla calendar is a traditional solar calendar and the year begins on Pohela Boishakh, which falls on April 14 in Bangladesh. The ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ has been put on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the Bangladesh embassy in Paris said in a statement on 30 November. The statement by Ambassador M Shahidul Islam said the decision came from the 11th session of the intergovernmental committee on intangible cultural heritage in Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The Dhaka University’s Faculty of Arts organises the procession every year, begun in the early 1980s. It has now become one of the main crowd-pullers of the ‘Pahela Baishakh’ celebrations. It is not just a parade with colourful masks and figures, but it also symbolises the call to fight the evil. The statement by the Bangladesh mission in Paris said the UNESCO committee recognised that the festival represents ‘solidarity and shared value for democracy, uniting people irrespective of cast, creed, religion, gender or age'. It said a four-member Bangladesh delegation led by Ambassador Islam, also the permanent representative to the UNESCO, attended the Adis Ababa session on 30 November. “The inclusion of Mangal Shobhajatra in the list of cultural heritage of humanity is the result of the government's proactive cultural diplomacy," reads the statement adding it will help reinforce Bangladesh’s image as a secular state.
Size: 6016px × 4016px
Location: Shahbagh, Dhaka, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh
Photo credit: © Mamunur Rashid / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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