Mangal Shobhajarta’s UNESCO recognition celebrated

Cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor at a programme on Saturday. Photo: BSS

Cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor on Saturday said the government would expand the periphery of Mangal Shobhajarta to town and village levels to make the tradition more ceremonious and gorgeous.

The minister was addressing a programme organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University on the faculty premises.

The ministry held the programme to celebrate the inclusion of the Mangal Shobhajatra on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  

“We are very proud as ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ got UNESCO recognition as world heritage. We will make the next year’s Pahela Baishakh celebration with more joyously marking the recognition,” the minister said.  

Dhaka University vice-chancellor professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Bangla Academy director general Shamsuzzaman Khan, Faculty of Fine Arts dean professor Sheikh Afjal Hossain attended the event with cultural affairs secretary Aktari Mamtaz in the chair.

Noor said the government has a plan to organise Mangal Shobhajatra at village levels so that the people throughout the country can become a part of the heritage.

Describing the ‘Pahela Baishakh’ a universal and non-communal festival of Bangalee nation, the minister said, “We want to celebrate the festival magnificently to provide a strong message that Bangalee is a secular nation. Our culture is our asset”.

He said, “We want to stand before the world with our heads high as no bad element can snatch away our achievement”.

Professor Arefin said the recognition from UNESCO brings pride for the nation.

Few teachers and students of Fine Arts Faculty had taken the initiative to organise ‘Mangal Shobhajatra when anti-liberation force was in state power. It was strong protest against the ill force during the period, he said.

UNESCO recognised the Bangalee’s traditional Mangal Shobhajatra on Pahela Boishakh (Bangla New Year) as a world heritage on 30 November, 2016.

In 1989, teachers and students of Fine Arts Faculty had organised the Mangal Shobhajatra for the first time. In continuation of that, it becomes a major part of the celebration of Bangla New Year in the country