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Muslim
Festivals
The principal festivals of the Muslim community are
Mohurrum, Iduzzoha,
Idul-fitr and the prophets birthday. The Mohurrum festival commemorates the martyrdom
of the prophets grandson's, Hasan and Husain in a battle at Karbala in Arabia.
The Sunni sect of Muslims carry, in a warlike procession enacting mock fights
and exhibitions of prowess in which lathi and sword play form a major role.
Replicas of the tombs of the slain heroes are made and later immersed in a specially
designated tank. It was customary for Hindus to take part in the processions.
The
Shia sect also take out mourning processions with men and women dressed in black
and singing marsia or specially composed elegies. Marsia sessions are also held
in assemblies where Urdu elegies are sung or recited.
Idul-Fitr marks the conclusion of a month of
fasts (Ramzan) and is
comparable in the splendour of celebrations to the Durga Puja of the
Hindus. Wearing of New clothes is a must and after the special morning
prayer which are joined by every male in front of a mosque or in an open
space, there is a general round of embracing. It is a day of feasting and quiet
merriment, assembles for religious discourses being a main part of the days
observances.
Iduzzoha
(Idul-Korbab) or Bakr-Id is the other compulsory celebration of
Muslims, when animal sacrifice is made. The mythological basis of the observance,
older than Islam is related to Prophet Abraham of the old testament.
The celebration of the
birthday of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is another
notable religious festival held every year on a day in early March at the Belur
Math, headquarters of the Ramakrishna mission. The solemn observance draws not
only Hindus but people of other religions and Non-Indians, and lakhs of
people converge there to pay homage to the great saint. Hindu and Muslim Saints of local fame are commemorated in countless fairs and
celebrations in every part of West Bengal. Every old temple has its annual day
when pilgrims gather there and inevitably a fair of big or small size comes up
around it.
Fairs
There is a fairs held in celebration of two notified medieval personages who
helped to colonize the fearful jungle of Sunderbans by their reputedly spiritual
powers. One is Pir Ghazi Mubarak Shah whose seat at Ghutiari Sharif in south.
24-Parganas district is the the scene of an annual fair at the end of the
Bengali year at which pilgrims irrespective of community offer worship to the
Saint at his grave. The other is having his seat at Dhapadhapi in the same
district is Dakshinary, elevated to the position of controlling deity of the
ferocious tiger. A big fair is held in his honour on the day following the
bathing day at Gangasagar.
 The
Pous Mela at
Shantiniketan is held evey year around December 22 the date
on which the Adi Brahmo shrine at the seat of Tagore was dedicated in 1891. The
Mela has developed at Santiniketan and Sriniketan., providing a meeting ground
for tribal , rural and elite cultural elements.
Rabindra Jayanti
(Celebration of the birthday of Rabindrnath
Tagore) falling
on May,7/8 is the most widely observed cultural festival in West Bengal. All
cultural associations and groups in town and village celebrate this day with
programmes of song, dance and drama composed by Tagore which run for days
together. Meeting and seminars are held for discussion on the different aspects of his encyclopedic
personality. Another cultural mela on an ambitious scale is the Banga Samsriti Sammelan
held annually in Calcutta. Usually a 15-day festival it represents all the
different features of Bengali performing arts, traditional and modern, rural and
urban. The Sammelan has came to acquire a highly representative character.
The
birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which fall on January 23 is a
nationalistic festival of West Bengal. Processions with large numbers of young
men and girls in uniform an in military formation parade every town
and important village. The main procession in Calcutta attains a length of more
than three kilometers and groups of boys and girls play martial band music. The
celebrations is a token of Bengal's revolutionary temper.
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