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A festival of Kites, Lights and Fireworks! Shakrain Festival When writing something about ‘Shakrain Festival’ celebrated annually by the residents living in a certain part of the city of Dhaka, I feel like traveling back to my boyhood days when I was simply addicted to flying Kites like my friends during the two months of winter from the rooftop of our two storied building located at my home town which is 76 miles or 123 kilometers (Crow Fly) away from Dhaka. But “Shakrain Festival” though relates to kite flying; it is some what different than the normal thing and is celebrated mostly by the inhabitants of the oldest part of the city of Dhaka. It is a day of flying kites, mostly in the afternoon by the , Boys and girls, young men and women, and sometimes joined by grown ups too. In the evening, fireworks lights up the sky of the southern part of Dhaka city (old Dhaka) followed by shows of manipulating fire by the Flame –Eaters who gathers on the roof tops of houses to show their skills! The festival is an annual celebration held with much fun and festivities on the last day of the Bengali month of “Poush” (9th month of Bengali Calendar and January 14 or 15 of Gregorian calendar) in old Dhaka--the congested part of my city! It has become now an important yearly cultural event celebrated by all the inhabitants of old Dhaka irrespective of faiths they practice. The festival day is also known as “Poush Sangkranti”. We as well as the people of India and Nepal call the day as “Makar Sangkranti”. The tropic of Capricorn is known as “Makar” in this part of the world. It may also be mentioned here that the word “Sangkranti” denotes movement of the sun from one zodiac signs to another. It is believed that on this day, the sun moves towards its southward journey at the Tropic of Capricorn and starts moving towards the Tropic of Cancer. The festival is significant to the Dhakaites as the day marks a major change in the solar system! It is believed that day and night on this day is equally long! After “Sangkranti”, the days become longer than the nights. In other words nights become shorter. So what happened in oldest part of Dhaka on this particular day of the year 2018? As mentioned somewhere in the foregoing, aside from kite flying by young and old, boys and girls, and men and women during the day but mostly during afternoon, the evening and night of the Shakrain day, ‘colourful floating paper lanterns (fanoosh), fire breathers and thousands of fireworks from old Dhaka rooftop enchanted the people of all ages. Also there were laser lightings, music, and dance parties arranged by the young people of the community’. My readers are invited to view ten photos of current year’s “Shakrain Festival” posted below for getting an idea about the festival which happens to be a part of our culture too! \ Photo Credits: The Daily Star,Dhaka Tribune , bdnews24.com           |
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There are many kite runners among these Kite fliers!!
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What a lovely festival. We have small festivals in some of the towns within driving distance of my home, and I used to enjoy going to them. With Joe and my limited ability to walk distances, we don't go to them any more. As for kite flying, we have a huge open area behind our house, and sometimes our grandkids enjoy flying kites there. Be a prism, spreading God's light and love, not a mirror reflecting the world's hatred.
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Astounding photos and a most informative narrative.
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Interesting reading about the meaning of the Shakrain Festival. Even though I only see one picture, in my imagination I see the fireworks, the flame-eaters and the beautiful paper lanterns floating toward the sky. Thanks for sharing, Looklook. You made me travel back to my childhood, too. With my brothers and the group of friends of the neighborhood, in November (the month of the winds) we used to go to a near by hill to fly kites of all sizes and colores and shapes. Most made by the kids themselves. Ahh...those were the days!   Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.(Khalil Gibran)
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What a lovely festival. We have small festivals in some of the towns within driving distance of my home, and I used to enjoy going to them. With Joe and my limited ability to walk distances, we don't go to them any more. As for kite flying, we have a huge open area behind our house, and sometimes our grandkids enjoy flying kites there. Thank you so much for your comments left on this page of mine. The City of Dhaka is now deprived of open spaces where kids can fly kites freely! It has now turned into a concrete Jungle! Even my home town has lost many of its playing fields and open places where we used to play during our boyhood. These are the curses that come along with progress. Take care and stay well, my friend. My regards to Mr. Joe.
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Astounding photos and a most informative narrative. Thank you so much for your kind comments appreciating the text as well as the photos posted along with the blog. Wishing you all the best, my friend.
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Interesting reading about the meaning of the Shakrain Festival. Even though I only see one picture, in my imagination I see the fireworks, the flame-eaters and the beautiful paper lanterns floating toward the sky. Thanks for sharing, Looklook. You made me travel back to my childhood, too. With my brothers and the group of friends of the neighborhood, in November (the month of the winds) we used to go to a near by hill to fly kites of all sizes and colores and shapes. Most made by the kids themselves. Ahh...those were the days! Thank you so much for stopping by and telling me that Nine of the Ten photos posted along with the blog are missing! I don't know why the photos have gone missing. However, I have again posted some of the missing photos including photos of fireworks for you to see and enjoy. Yes, Glumo, those were the days that would never come back in our lives! I would like to born again only for fling Kites ! Take care and stay well.
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Interesting post about Shakrain festival and the flying of kites. Do they have lots of food at these festivals? Interesting photos you posted. Your Shakrain festival is a month before Chinese New year which is happening on February 16th. Living in a city with so many different ethnic groups we have a lot of celebrations going on. There will be a parade for Chinese New Year and one of the floats is a huge dragon. which is always very colorful.
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Interesting post about Shakrain festival and the flying of kites. Do they have lots of food at these festivals? Interesting photos you posted. Your Shakrain festival is a month before Chinese New year which is happening on February 16th. Living in a city with so many different ethnic groups we have a lot of celebrations going on. There will be a parade for Chinese New Year and one of the floats is a huge dragon. which is always very colorful. Thank you so much for your post. This festival was really an ethnic one in the past usually celebrated by the Hindu community of Old part of Dhaka. But now it is no longer an ethnic celebration. It has now turned into a festival of all the inhabitants of this particular part of Dhaka. The festival starts in the morning and continues until midnight! The entire day they fly kites followed by laser light shows in the evening and fireworks until midnight. You may look at the photos uploaded once again if you like. We have also a sizable number of Chinese living here like any other mega cities of the world. However, floats are not usually seen here during Chinese New Year. Hope you would enjoy the festival on February 16, this year too. Take care and stay well.
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Dear Glumo, Thank you so much for stopping by and telling me that Nine of the Ten photos posted along with the blog are missing! I don't know why the photos have gone missing. However, I have again posted some of the missing photos including photos of fireworks for you to see and enjoy. Yes, Glumo, those were the days that would never come back in our lives! I would like to born again only for fling Kites ! Take care and stay well. Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.(Khalil Gibran)
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Thank you Looklook, you're very kind. Now I see all the pictures.
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2/19/2018 8:58 am |
Thanks! U took me to my childhood,when we used to fly kites on shankrant ...usually on 14th Jan every year.We used to go on the roof of our house in the morning with eatables .Used to sing songs while flying kites with all family members.Thanks!
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Thanks! U took me to my childhood,when we used to fly kites on shankrant ...usually on 14th Jan every year.We used to go on the roof of our house in the morning with eatables .Used to sing songs while flying kites with all family members.Thanks!
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