Sirajganj: Dew-wet nature is telling that winter is coming across Hemant. A farmer’s dream of golden rice in the field, swaying in the wind. Harvesting of golden paddy has started, and some are taking early paddy at home. However, there is no flavor of the Navanna festival of rural culture. The thousand-year-old traditional Navanna festival of the Bengali nation is disappearing from rural Bengal. In the past, every courtyard of the village used to be busy with the festival of golden paddy harvesting in Navanna. But in rural public life, this image is now just a memory.
Aman farmers have started harvesting golden crops in 1 municipality and 8 unions of Tarash upazila of Sirajganj district. Every year Aman Paddy brings a new message in the Hemant season. The smell of new rice is spreading in the field. The golden days of golden rice produced by farmers are going on. But Navanna is not in the mood. At one time, kinship ties were formed around this festival. But nowadays the children of rural Bengal hear about Navanna only in books or stories. Once upon a time when the month of Agrahayan came, the smell of ripe paddy was heard in rural Bengal about Navanna. But now there are no such festivals in rural towns.
In the Navanna festival, various arrangements were seen in everyone’s house including new Aman rice bahari pitha, phirni-pais, kheer and relatives, neighbors were invited to the house and fed.
Shyam Sundar, a teacher of Paushar tribal high school in Tarash upazila, said, I have heard about Navanna festival from my grandparents. It was better before. On New Year’s Day, they used to go to eat at each other’s houses. But now we don’t see it in our village anymore. Now they celebrate Navanna festival like themselves.
Md. Solaiman Hossain Kabir, principal of Tarash J,I Technical College, said, “When the paddy harvest of Hemant started, the mood of Navanna festival came to my mind. But nowadays it is no longer seen in rural Bengal. We used to eat together at each other’s houses as children and welcome Navanna festival in a new way. But today’s boys and girls know Navanna festival only by name. They can no longer celebrate Navanna like before.
Many of the farmers say, lack of character is lost, family is lost in food. Earlier, the prices of goods were low, it was possible to celebrate Navanna. Now that everything has gone up in price, it is no longer possible. Therefore, the traditional Navanna festival of rural Bengal is about to disappear.
