Basanta Utsab () 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 ...

spring festival predominantly celebrated in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. The festival is celebrated every year on the beginning day of Bengali month of

Falgun Falgun or Phalgun (; ) or Phagun () is the eleventh month of the year in the Bengali calendar, the Assamese calendar, and the Nepali calendar. In the revision of the Bengali calendar used in Bangladesh since October 2019, the month has 29 days ...

. Celebrations of the festival are observed in West Bengal and Bengali-dominated areas of other Indian states;

Shantiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and ...

, a neighbourhood of

Bolpur Bolpur is a city and a municipality in Birbhum district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bolpur subdivision. Bolpur municipal area includes Santiniketan. The city is known as a cultural and educational hub of ...

town in West Bengal, sees the biggest celebration of the festival. Similar festival is observed in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, known as

Pohela Falgun Pohela Falgun () is a festival observed the first day of Spring of the Bengali month of Falgun in Bangladesh. The celebration was started in 1991 by students of Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts. Before 2019, the first of Falgun used to ...

. This festival started in the third decade of the 20th century in Santiniketan of Bolpur in West Bengal.

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

made the ''Basanta Utsab'' sacred and well-cultured. This festival showcases the elegant form of

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

and Bengal's own

Dol Purnima Dol Purnima, also popularly known as Dol Jatra, Dola Jatra, Doul Utsav or Deul, is a Hindu swing festival celebrated during the Holi festival of Assam, Bengal, Braj region, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Tripura. This festival is dedicated to ...

History

Shamindranath Tagore, son of Rabindranath Tagore, started ''Ritu-Utsab'' in 1907, but not held on ''Dol Purnima''. Then at different times on different dates, the Ashram of Santiniketan celebrated ''Basanta''. It was customary to circumambulate the ashram to sing spring songs. In 1923, Basanta Utsab was started in

Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendra ...

; it was organized in Ashram-Sammilani session on ''Falguni Purnima''. The festival has been organized regularly since 1923.

References

External links

Festival Basanta Utshav
{{Culture of West Bengal Culture of West Bengal Culture of Bangladesh Spring (season) in Bangladesh