Unique Culture in NE India | Floating flowers | प्रकृति पूजा |
Bizhuedit
Bizhu is a three-day-long festival that commemorates the commencement of a new year for the Chakmas and is their most important festival. Bizhu marks the Chaitra-sankranti, which is the last day of the Bengali calendar, and the festivities span a period of three days starting on the day of the Chaitra-sankranti. It is thought that the festival lasted for a full fortnight in earlier times. Bizhu has close links to the practice of jhum cultivation among the Chakmas and is believed to have originated as a festival to propitiate the earth for a bounteous harvest following the first rains of the agricultural season. In recent years, the festival has lost some of its agrarian linkages and has become a social event for the Chakmas. The rituals associated with Bizhu too have been simplified over time.
The festivities begin on the first day, also known as the Phool Bizhu, when Chakma households are cleaned out and decked with flowers. In the evening special prayers are made to the Buddha and lamps lit at the Chakmas' houses and Buddhist temples. The next day, Mul Bizhu, is a time for socialising as people visit others in thkeir village, participate in traditional games and cook special curries and sweets for the day. According to Chakma belief, a person dying on the day of Mul Bizhu goes to heaven. The Mul Bizhu ends with a performance of the Bizhu dance. The last day, Gojjepojje din is set aside for the performance of various religious and social activities.
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11 сен 2024
