Culture of West bengal
singers at Shantiniketan
The culture of West Bengal is an Indian culture which has its roots
in Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama and cinema. Different
geographic regions of West Bengal have subtle as well as more
pronounced variations between each other, with Darjeeling Himalayan
hill region and Duars showing particularly different socio-cultural
aspects.
West Bengal's capital Kolkata—as the former capital of India—was the
birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought,and is
referred to as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".The presence
of paras, which are cluster of neighbourhoods that possess a strong
sense of community, is characteristic of West Bengal.Typically, each
para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing
field.Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the
form of freestyle intellectual conversation. However, with the growth
of apartments, expansion of neighbourhoods and rapid urbanization,
this culture is on decline.
Literature
Main articles: Bengali literature and History of Bengali literature
The Bengali language boasts a rich literary heritage, shared with
neighbouring Bangladesh. West Bengal has a long tradition in folk
literature, evidenced by the Charyapada,Mangalkavya,Shreekrishna
Kirtana,Thakurmar Jhuli, and stories related to Gopal Bhar. In the
nineteenth and twentieth century,Bengali literature was modernized in
the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay,Michael
Madhusudan Dutt,Rabindranath Tagore,Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sharat
Chandra Chattopadhyay. Coupled with social reforms led by Ram
Mohan Roy,Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major
part of the Bengal Renaissance.The middle and latter parts of the 20th
century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary
movements such as those espoused by the Kallol
movement,hungryalists and the little magazines.
Theater and films.
Bengal has a long tradition of indigenous theater that dates back to
the 1770s and consists of popular tales enacted through dance,
music, and narration. Modern theater was introduced by Europeans in
the mid-19th century and sustained by colonial educational
institutions. The mythological and historical plays dominated the last
quarter of the 19th and first quarter of the 20th century, but gradually
gave way to urban middle-class predilections in society. The Indian
People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) was founded in 1943 and produced
plays with far-reaching impacts. In the 1950s, amateur group theater
emerged to address contemporary sociopolitical and financial issues.
Star Theatre,Academy of Fine Arts,Rabindra Sadan, Nahabat, and
Girish Manch are the most popular Bengali theaters, known for their
development and socially conscious plays.Among other types of
theater, West Bengal has a tradition of folk drama known as
jatra.Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed
"Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are
located.Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film
directors such as academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray,Ritwik
Ghatak,Mrinal Sen,Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as
Aparna Sen,Buddhadeb Dasgupta,Goutam Ghose,Koushik
Ganguly,Rituparno Ghosh,Anjan Dutt, Kamaleswar Mukherjee, Sandip
Ray.Uttam Kumar was the most popular lead actor for decades, and
his romantic pairing with actress Suchitra Sen in films attained
legendary status.Soumitra Chatterjee, who acted in many Satyajit
Ray-films, and Prosenjit Chatterjee are among other popular lead male
actors. As of 2020, Bengali films have won India's annual National Film
Award for Best Feature Film twenty-two times in sixty seven years, the
highest among all Indian languages.
Music
Main article: Music of West Bengal
The Baul tradition is a unique heritage of Bengali folk music, which
has also been influenced by regional music traditions.Other folk music
forms include Kabigaan,Gombhira,Bhawaiya,kirtans, and Gajan
festival music. Folk music in West Bengal is often accompanied by the
ektara, a one-stringed instrument. West Bengal also has a heritage in
North Indian classical music. The state is recognised for its
appreciation of rabindrasangeet (songs written by Rabindranath
Tagore) and Indian classical music.Nazrul Geeti is another classical
music of Bengal, which is written and composed by poet Kazi Nazrul
Islam. He was person in Bengal music who created the first Bengali
ghazals.
Popular music genres include adhunik songs.Since the early 1990s,
new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–
rock Bengali bands.Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about
life"), is based on realism. UNESCO selected The Rural Craft Hub of
Bengal to showcase their artwork in Paris in 2015.
Dance
West Bengal is known for its diverse culture, and dance plays a
significant role in showcasing this. Each region has its own unique
dance form that not only reflects the culture and history of the area
but also incorporates worldwide themes. The Brita dance is a
traditional folk dance performed by women to seek blessings from the
Gods for their children's wishes to come true or to celebrate recovery
from illness. The Gambhira dance is a devotional folk dance that
addresses social, political, and moral issues of contemporary society,
and it is popular during festivals in North Bengal. The Santhal dance
celebrates nature and addresses gender issues and land rights, and it
is performed by both men and women of the Santhali tribe. The Lathi
dance is a well-known form of dance that expresses various emotions
of human life, including celebration, anger, pain, and love. Finally, the
Chhau is a widely practiced tribal dance that incorporates martial arts,
athletics, and religion, with stories taken from the great epics of the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata.[20]
Attire.
Though Bengali women traditionally wear the special Benarasi sari
and Jamdani, Western attire has gained acceptance among younger
and professional women. Western-style dress has greater acceptance
among men, although the traditional costumes like dhoti, panjabi,
kurta, pyjama andlungi are seen during weddings and major festivals.
Like any other metropolis, Kolkata also has an eclectic mix of western
wears with a tinge of ethnic wears. People are found dressed in jeans
along with kurtas, or sari along with an overcoat.
Festivals and celebration
Main article: List of festivals of West Bengal
West Bengal is famous for its culture and festivals are an inevitable
part of this culture. Some festivals are celebrated statewide, while
others are local in nature. There are also various other village fairs
and seasonal tribal festivals. Durga Puja is the biggest and most
important festival of West Bengal, and it features colourful pandals,
decorative idols of Hindu goddess Durga and her family, lighting
decoration and immersion processions. Other major festivals are Kali
Puja, Diwali, Dol, Saraswati Puja, Jagaddhatri Puja, Rath Jatra, Kojagori
Lakshmi Puja, Vishwakarma Puja, Poush Parbon, , Christmas. Kolkata
Book Fair, Kolkata International Film Festival and Dover Lane Music
Festival are major annual cultural events of Kolkata, where as Poush
Mela,Ganga Sagar Mela,Jhapan are some of the major annual fairsPoila
Boishakh of the state. The diverse ethnic populace of Darjeeling
Himalayan hill regioncelebrates several local festivals such as Losar,
Dussheraor Fulpati,Tihar,Ram Navami, Maghe Sankranti, , Chotrul
Duchen, Tendong Lho Rumfaat, eid etc.
Main course[edit]
Fish[edit]
A traditional Bengali fish meal – rice
with macher jhol (literally translated to "fish's gravy").
Bengalis eat copious amounts of fish and typically look for freshwater
and brackish fish when making meals. They also temper it
with phoron.[54] Popular fish curries include boal, rohu, ilish,
and pabda.
One tradition includes the left side of the cidal fish being cooked in oil.
[55] Bengali Vaishnavas avoid all types of fish, eggs and meat.
Shorshe Ilish Mishti doi
Sweets[edit]
Nakshi Pitha
Bengali sweets have a long history. The Portuguese friar Sebastien
Manrique, travelling in the region in the 17th century, noted the
multitude of milk-based foods and sweets prepared in traditional
ways.[56] Falooda, shahi jilapi and shemai are popular sweet foods
and desserts.
Roshogolla[edit]
Roshogolla, a Bengali traditional sweet, is one of the most widely
consumed sweets in India. It spread to Bengal in 1868. Chhana based
sweets were introduced in Eastern India from about the 18th century;
as the process and technology involved in synthesizing "Chhana" was
introduced to the Indians by the Dutch in the 1790s. The cottage
cheese "schmierkase" was also known as Dutch cheese.[57] The
earlier versions of Rossogolla lacked binding capacity of the modern
avatar that is well known and highly acclaimed today. This was due to
the fact that the know-how involved in synthesizing such a sweet was
unknown before being experimentally developed by Nobin Chandra
Das and then constantly improved and further standardized by his
successors. Furthermore, the "chhana" manufactured in those days
was a coarse and granular variety and had low binding capacity. It was
made by citric and ascorbic acid from natural fruit extracts. This type
of "chhana" cannot be worked on to compact into any regular and firm
shape for the purpose of sweet-making, leave alone making
Rossogolla. This is because of a documented technological issue
– lactic acid (extracted from whey) used to curdle milk now was
introduced to India in the late 18th century by Dutch and Portuguese
colonists (along with acetic acid).[58] It is this method that creates the
fine, smooth modern "chhana" with high binding capacity – which is
now the staple raw material for Bengali confectioners. At
present, Nobin Chandra Das is referred to have invented the spongy
variant of rossogolla.[59]
Darbesh[edit]
Laddu (or as it is known as "darbesh" in Bengal) is a very common
sweet in West Bengal and Bangladesh, as well as the rest of the
subcontinent, especially during celebrations and festivities. [60][61] They
are usually made out of flour, ghee/butter/oil and sugar. Alternative
recipes can be made of coconut shavings and jaggery, raisins,
chopped nuts, oatmeal, khoa, nutmeg, cardamom, or poppy seeds,
among other ingredients.[62][63][64][65] The sweet dates back to the year
4 BCE, where it was used for medicinal purposes and to keep the
hormones of 9-11-year-old girls' hormones "in check".[
st Bengal
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Object 1
The state of West Bengal is synonymous with a rich cultural heritage
that reflects in its literature, cuisine, music, painting and much more.
Bengal's sartorial legacy derives from the royal patronage and the
nobility that valued the richness of traditional techniques of weaving,
embroidery and stitching. This legacy is the common heritage of both
present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh where these traditional
methods of curating beautiful weaves exist in curious harmony with
the modern-day synonymity of the 'fashionable' with the western-
wear. Presenting below are some of the traditional dresses of West
Bengal that would top the list of every collector and fashion
enthusiasts:
1. Saree
No image of Bengali women is complete without the six-yards of
elegance that defines Bengali saree. A host of traditional techniques
practised on pure cotton and silk, authentic motifs and drapes of the
Bengali saris spell unique charm, sensuousness and allure at the same
time. Below are some of the choicest types of Bengali sarees that one
just cannot give a miss:
Dhakai Jamdani
Believed to have originated from Dhaka, the uniqueness of Jamdani
sarees lie in their "Panna hazar" (thousand emeralds) patterns of
delicate flowers weaved through gold and silver threads. Spelling class
and timelessness, Jamdani technique is laborious and time-consuming
and worth every penny!
Source
Korial and Garad
Garad, meaning white, is the traditional Bengali saree with a bright
red border and stripes in the pallu offset against the un-dyed white
silk. Imbued with religious significance, garad sarees (and their cousin-
Korial with intricate buti or flower patterns in the body) are hugely
popular during the Durga puja, weddings and other religious
ceremonies. Paired with the typically Bengali ivory/conch shell and red
lacquer bangles, garad sarees are an epitome of grace and authentic
Bengali beauty.
Source
Baluchari Sarees
Balachuri sarees originated in a small place of the same name
near Murshidabad district and are made of fine silk. Considered to be
heirloom pieces, Baluchari sarees are opulent with gold embroidery of
historical and religious scenes from the Indian mythology. They are
also called as 'swarnachari' sarees owing to their bright gold hue of
the embroidery. The elaborate pallu of these sarees is best left
unpleated which reveals the full resplendence of the design.
Source
Tant Sarees
Deriving their name from the loom on which they are woven, Tant
sarees are extremely popular in Bengal. Capable of being draped
effortlessly and extremely lightweight, Tant sarees are ideal for the hot
and humid climate of Bengal. They are traditionally woven with motifs
of paisleys and flowers and carry a thick coloured border. They are an
epitome of Bengali handloom culture and perfect for daily wear.
Source
Tussar Silk Sarees
Malda district of West Bengal is considered to be the hub of tussar silk
production. Tussar silk is more textured than the conventional silk and
is also used as a base for weaving elaborate Jamdanis or Balachuris.
Apart from this, pure tussar silk sarees are usually characterised by
solid colours that are enhanced by a golden sheen of the silk, adorned
with both traditional and contemporary motifs on the pallu.
Source
Muslin Cotton
Known for their sheer simplicity, the highlight of these sarees is the
fine quality of muslin that is super-soft to touch. Usually made in soft
paste colour, they are adorned with delicate patterns, and if properly
starched, they look incredibly classy and elegant. They come in both
affordable and expensive range, the latter being quite luxurious
depending upon the quality of the muslin used.
Source
Kantha Silks and Cottons
Kantha is a type of embroidery that is popular in the Shantiniketan
region of Bengal. Characterized by 'running stitch' in bright hues,
Kantha embroidery is used for making a range of linen items such as
bedcovers, cushions and quilts. Woven thoroughly by hand, Kantha
sarees can be light or heavy and carry both delicate and elaborate
designs on cotton and silk. Kantha Silk sarees are popular Bengali
Dresses.
Source
Murshidabad Silk Saree
Murshidabad is known for its thriving industry of silk-production. Finest
quality of the silk is used to make beautiful sarees in bright colours
with traditional block printing patterns and 'batik' designs (made of
wax and then dyeing them in bright hues) ideal for both casual and
formal wear.
Source
2. Dupattas
While the traditional attire for Bengali women is the saree,
contemporary sartorial choices also include kurtas and salwars that
are paired with exquisite dupattas (drapes) and stoles that come in
traditional weaves, motifs and colors. So, if you are the one that
prefers the desi chic, just pair a beautiful lush silk or cotton dupatta in
Jamdani or Kantha with your favorite kurta and add some authentic
Bengali elegance to your persona!
Source
3. Panjabi and Dhoti
The traditional attire for men in Bengal is a 'Panjabi', which is the
equivalent of north-Indian kurta, paired with a dhoti- a plain loincloth
in cotton or silk. Panjabis can be either short or long ending up to
knees. What distinguishes Panjabis from the usual kurta is the
authentic Bengali fabric that can range from tussar silk, cotton-silk or
muga-silk embroidered with kantha around neckline or buttonholes.
Garad silk kurtas in the shades of beige, cream and honey are the
traditional wedding attire for Bengali men. These days, Panjabi is also
paired with jeans or trousers in a unique fusion to blend traditional
with the comfortable modern.
Source
Traditional Dresses of West Bengal are all about exploring the
possibilities of traditional handloom weaves and spins. Carrying the
legacy of age-old techniques, traditional West Bengal dress has
managed to hold their own against the boom and popularity of
western wear such as jeans and tops. Bengali handlooms are a
collector's delight, both in the traditional and fusion form. So go ahead
and splurge on some exotic saris for yourself and the women in the
family to treasure in some prized heirloom pieces. Or, if you are one
more open to experimentation, why not invest in a gorgeous Jamdani
dupatta or a kantha skirt to add just the right amount of desi Bengali
kitsch to your attire? The 'City of Joy' surely has options to let you
splurge when it comes to fabrics, colours, embroidery and drapes that
provide a sensory experience that immerses you in the cultural
heritage of Shonar Bangla!
