The Chittagong Hill Tracts wears a festive mood today as the national minorities living in the hill districts of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban start their New Year festival which is widely coined as Baisabi.
The name Baisabi is a blend of three different festivals celebrated by the three largest national minority communities in the CHT鈥擝aisuk observed by the Tripura people, Sangrai by the Marma and Biju by the Chakma people.
Other national minority communities in the region have other words for the festival鈥攖he Tangchangya people call it 鈥楤ishu鈥�, the Khumi call it 鈥楽angkraing鈥�, for the Khiyang the word is 鈥楽anglan鈥� and for the Mro it is 鈥楥hankran鈥�.
The duration of the New Year festival is from one day to three days depending on the particular community celebrating it, while the day of the celebration may also differ based on the community observing it, falling between April 12 and 15.聽
Houses will be decorated with flowers for the festival, children will seek blessings from the elderly and festive dishes will be prepared.
Cultural programmes, competitions and traditional sports of 鈥楪ila Kara鈥�, 鈥楴adeng Hela鈥� and 鈥楤oli Hela鈥� are also held as part of the festival.
For the Chakma community, Biju starts with 鈥楶hul Biju鈥� on April 12, which is the day before the last day of the outgoing year, when hundreds of them, wearing traditional dresses, float flowers in rivers to pay their respects to the goddess of water, Ma Ganga.
Sumona Chakma, a jobholder in Rangamati, said that younger members of the family would start 鈥楳ul Biju鈥�, the main day of the festival, marking the last day of the outgoing year, by giving showers to elderly relatives.
鈥楾he last day of the festival coined as 鈥楪ojjepojjye Din鈥� is on April 14 which coincides with the first day of Bengali year.
Suchi Marma from Khagrachari said that every year they go to temple early morning of April 14 and give showers to the elderly people of the family.
Later on the day, a water festival named 鈥楻i Long Po Oye,鈥� is organised where people gather together to splash water on each other, she said.
鈥楾he next day is called Akeh, pre-preparation for making food for serving the guests on April 16,鈥� she said.聽
The Tripura community follows Tripurabda or Tripura calendar the New Year festival for which falls on April 13, 14 and 15.
They start Baisuk by making a traditional cake baked in bamboo straws with Binni variety of rice, said Laved Tripura from Bandarban.
鈥楾he next day, young members of the family give showers to the elderly members to seek their blessings and a peaceful new year. On April 15, we welcome the year,鈥� he added.
The Mro community celebrates their festival called Changkran on the day that falls on April 14 by lighting candles and incense sticks seeking divine blessings.
The government through an executive order on March 27 declared a general holiday in the three hill districts on April 13 on the occasion of the Chaitra Sankrangti.
This holiday will be optional in other districts of the country for the people associated with Chaitra Sankrangti.
Besides, April 14 is a government holiday on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh, effective for all offices and institutions across the country.
