Bengalis in Ireland celebrated their first ever 'Fagun Fest' on 1st March 2020. Fagun Fest, organised by Bengal Heritage Foundation Ireland, relates to the iconic Poush Mela of Bengal, dear to Bengalis from both India & Bangladesh.
Poush Mela is an annual fair that takes place in Santiniketan (place where Tagore established his university) in the Indian state of West Bengal, marking the harvest season. Bangladesh too celebrates Poush Mela with much pomp in Dhaka. The key characteristic of this fair included live performances of Bengali folk music viz. baul & kirtan.
Organised for the first time in the history of the Bengali community of Ireland this was a runaway success. The event was graced by the presence of Somnath Chatterjee (Counsellor Embassy of India, Dublin), Kazi Ahmed (Councillor Fine Gael), Swami Vimokshananda and Swami Purnananda (from Ramakrishna Mission, Dublin).
Typical of Bengal’s Winter Festivals, the event kicked off on a gastronomic note with food stalls set up by local bengalis. One could taste all the traditional bengali delicacies such as patishaapta, puli peethey, golaap peethey, moong puli, mishit doi, sondesh and more. To complement this exotic spread “Tea Amore” couldn’t stop brewing some fresh and aromatic Darjeeling teas spoiling tea lovers with flavor and choice.
How can a winter fair be complete without traditional handicraft! The fair got to see traditional kantha embroidery. Kantha is a form of embroidery often practised by rural women in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Odisha and also in Bangladesh. In this art form, a cloth is embroidered with running stitches, employing beautiful motifs of flowers, animals, birds and geometrical shapes, as well as themes from everyday activities. This traditionally embroidered cloth has many uses including shawls, sarees, dresses, quilts, covers, etc. Afruja Khatun from the Birbhum district of West Bengal travelled with her wares. A skilled Kantha artist, she caught fancy of the crowd with her beautifully embroidered ethnic spread of kantha stitch sarees, dupattas, bags and the likes. Her work was greatly appreciated and she was overwhelmed with the response received.
As the afternoon progressed and the food stalls exhausted their supply of the delicious items, the musicians finally hit the stage with some mind boggling and soul stirring rendition of Baul and Bhatiyali songs. Baul Sangeet, is a particular type of folk song which is a pure flow of feelings. Traditionally Bauls never bother to write down their songs and is essentially an oral tradition. Their lyrics intertwine a deep sense of mysticism, a longing for oneness with the divine. The songs of the Bauls and their lifestyle influenced a large swath of Bengali culture. Bhaba Pagla (1902-1984) and Lalon Fokir (1774 -1890) are considered the greatest of all bauls. Once again three artists Kangal Khyapa a Baul singer, Pranes Som a Bhatiyali singer and Arpan a Dotara player travelled from India for this show. Once on stage the audience artist connection was so great that the show continued well past its scheduled closure time and the auditorium was bursting with energy and enthusiasm.
Kangal Khyapa, a young Baul loved the audience connect. Pranes, a Bhatiyali expert, praised the organisers and the crowd for the wonderful evening. Arpan said that this was an overwhelming experience for them and certainly exceeded their expectations. He felt this effort of theirs to bring the folk culture to overseas bengalis proved to be a huge success in Dublin.
The audience too echoed their sentiments. Dr Molly Sengupta said that she thoroughly enjoyed this first of a kind afternoon and hoped there will be more of such events in future. Moumita Pal said this was a mind-blowing experience. Julie added that she thoroughly enjoyed this event and is waiting for more of such unique initiatives from Bengal Heritage Foundation (BHF) Ireland.
Jhuma Majumdar spoke on behalf of the organisers and thanked the performers, artisans and the audience for a wonderful afternoon.
