Members of the ethnic minority communities or indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are observing Boisabi Utsab, the biggest cultural festival, on Friday.
The festival is about bidding farewell to the past year and welcoming the new, with a variety of colourful programs.
The festival has different names among the tribes. The Chakma people call it “Biju”, Tanchangya call it “Bishu”, Tripura call it “Boisuk”, and Marma call it “Sangrai”.
The word “Boisabi” is a combination of the Bangla acronyms for various indigenous festivals, like “Boisuk”, “Sangrai” and “Biju”.
The first day of the three-day-long traditional event is known as “Phul Biju”.
For the Chakma people, the first day is called “Phul Biju”, the second day “Mul Biju”, and the third day, which is also the first day of the Bangla New Year, is “Gojyapojya Din”.
On the first day of the festival, people float flowers on rivers and springs, and bathe, to cleanse and seek divine blessings from the Mother Ganga for their peace and prosperity.
The second day, on Chaitra Sankranti, is the main festival where people dress up, cook special curries named “Pachon” with different types of vegetables for guests, and take part in various traditional festivals.
In Rangamati, people from different groups began celebrating “Boisabi” by floating flowers in Kaptai Lake.
On the other hand, the Tripura community started their “Boisuk” festivities at Garjantali Ghat of Kaptai Lake in the morning.
After floating flowers, the people offered flowers to the elders and gifted them new clothes and entertained the guests with pita-puli. After that, the artists of Tripura community enthralled the guests with dancing and singing.
Dipankar Talukder MP was the chief guest at the festival organized by Tripura Kalyan Foundation. Rangamati Zilla Parishad Chairman Angsui Pru Chowdhury, Zilla Parishad Member Bipul Tripura, and Tripura Kalyan Foundation President Bidyut Tripura were present.
In Khagrachhari, the celebration began by immersing flowers in the Chengi River in the town’s Khabangpuria area by the local Tripura community, UNB reported.
Like every year, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Affairs Ministry arranged the Boisabi Festival-2024 in the capital on Friday.
A colourful procession was brought out from Sheikh Hasina Chittagong Hill Tracts Heritage Preservation and Research Centre, and it ended at Ramna Park Lake after parading several points.
As the organizer of the festival, senior officials and employees of the CHT ministry attended the rally. Secretary to the minister Md Mashiur Rahman inaugurated the rally as the chief guest.
Our Rangamati correspondent Bijoy Dhar contributed to this report.
