''Nobanno'' ( bn, নবান্ন, Nobānno; lit: New Feast) is a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and in the

Indian states India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Barak Valley The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam. The region is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The ...

. It is a festival of food; many local preparations of

Bengali cuisine Bengali cuisine ( bn, বাঙ্গালী রন্ধনপ্রণালী) is the culinary style of Bengal, a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent encompassing Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura ...

like pitha are cooked.

Celebration

The festival is celebrated with mela which are called Nabanna Mela. The villagers and locals from both the major religious groups join the festival with equal participation. The festival gets a lot of support from the creative army of Bengali culture. Several poets, musicians,

baul The Baul ( bn, বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism, Vaishnavism and Tantra from Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls cons ...

and painters flock to such mass gatherings. There is a famous play written on nabanna by Bijon Bhattacharya which depicts the sad incident of the great Bengal Famine of 1943. Nowadays the Festival "Nabanna" is celebrating every Bengali year(1st day of Agrahayan) in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, organised by Jatiya Nabanna Utshab Udjapan Parshad (National Harvest Festival committee) since 1998. Mr. Shahriar Salam is the Founder and main planner of the organisation. There are huge number of cultural activists, organisations & performing in a day long festival....

People from several villages of Howrah and even from other districts of West Bengal come here. People not only come to visit the Mela. In addition, they participate in many cultural programmes and competitions like 'Pithe Making' (Preparation of different sorts of Bengali Cakes), Seat-and Draw, Senior Citizens' Walking Competition, etc. An "Art-Camp" may attract creative minded people where artists from different states will participate. Some rare items of rural Bengal as " Dhenki" (Old-style Domestic Rice Mill), paddy of different varieties directly from the farmers' house are to be exhibited in the Exhibition ground. You can taste some delicious Bengali dishes like Pati-Sapta, Payesh (the latest addition is 'Vegetable Payesh'), Jilipipi (not Jilipi), etc. during the festival. Bengal's time-honoured culture and heritage will be presented to you in forms of Baul song,
Chhou Chhau dance, also spelled Chhou dance, is a semi classical Indian dance with martial and folk traditions. It is found in three styles named after the location where they are performed, i.e. the ''Purulia Chhau'' of West Bengal, the ''Seraike ...
-dance, Jatra, Tarja, Kobi-gaan, etc. These artists come from different parts of the state to perform their talent and expertise in front of thousands of appreciative gatherings. Moreover, you can refurbish your collection of folk arts from the 'exhibition-cum-sale' stalls of handicrafts made by rural artisans.

Social and cultural effects

Several dance and music forms have grown out of the ritual accompanied with the festival. Examples are Chhau,

Bihu Bihu is a set of three important Assamese festivals in the Indian state of Assam – 'Rongali' or 'Bohag Bihu' observed in April, 'Kongali' or 'Kati Bihu' observed in October, and 'Bhogali' or 'Magh Bihu' observed in January. The Rongali Bihu i ...

etc. Also the name nabanna is associated to several rural welfare projects and banks. It has also been associated with the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

(IPTA) movement of

Bengali theatre Bengali theatre primarily refers to theatre performed in the Bengali language. Bengali theatre is produced mainly in West Bengal, and in Bangladesh. The term may also refer to some Hindi theatres which are accepted by the Bengali people. Ben ...

. The path-breaking production ''

Nabanna ''Nobanno'' ( bn, নবান্ন, Nobānno; lit: New Feast) is a Bengali harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley. It is ...

'' of the IPTA in the 1940s, has been a motivating force in the left-tilted political approach of the next few decades on the stage where luminaries like

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Th ...

will glow with brilliance...

Celebration

Social and cultural effects

References

Further reading