OUR CORRESPONDENT
DHUBRI: Three-day Sonarai Puja and Pushna festival got underway under the auspices of Koch-Rajbangshi Folk Cultural Academy at the Mahamaya Field in Gauripur town of Dhubri District on Tuesday.
On the inaugural day, a well decorated socio-economic and cultural procession was taken out in Gauripur town, displaying the essence of the Koch-Rajbangshi community and depicting the rural life and religious practices led by Chief of Kamtapur Autonomous Council Jibesh Roy, Bijay Kumar Jain, Prafulla Barman and Working President Tapan Kumar Roy, General Secretary Debasish Dey, and a host of other dignitaries of the community.
15 thatched houses have been built inside the Mahamaya Field exhibiting materials and instruments used in cultivation, fishing, musical instruments, including materials of bamboo dance. Apart from this, Terracotta of Asharikandi, pith craft (Sola), textile-handloom, and traditional food items were also displayed in the huts.
Besides these, a typical kitchen, Shiva temple, gola ghar (paddy storage), traditional sutki (dry) fish, bull-cart, and the typical bride-groom in attire of Koch-Rajbangshi were also displayed.
The three-day festival includes lectures by eminent personalities of the community on varied subjects, seedling plantation, art competition, and cultural programmes on each night including goalini dance by a cultural troupe.
A mood of festivity gripped the Dhubri and Gauripur towns and thousands of people, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, visited the Mahamaya Field to have a glimpse of the life-style and simple way of life of the Koch-Rajbangshi community once ruled by the maharajas of Coochbehar.
President of the reception committee Probir Coomar Barua told The Sentinel that with the celebration of Sonarai Pujan and Pushna Utsav (festival), they wanted and tried to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Koch-Rajbangshi community through the exhibition. “To a great extent, we have succeeded in bringing the prominent features of the Koch-Rajbangshi community before the people through various ways,” General Secretary of the reception committee Tapan Kumar Roy said.
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