It is an undeniable fact that West Bengal is one of the warehouses of festivals and the upcoming festival is none other than Holi all what we specifically call as the Basanta Utsav. Holi is one such festival which is celebrated all throughout India but if you want to have the actual essence of this festival then you definitely have to plan a visit to Bolpur Santiniketan for witnessing The Incredible celebration of Basanta Utsav.
The spring season is absolutely mind boggling in Bengal when there is moderate temperature and all the flowers start blooming. Nature comes with its own beauty and that itself calls for celebration. If you visit Bolpur Shantiniketan you will find that it is covered with trees of Palash and Shimul, and looks absolutely gorgeous.
Shantiniketan is the Institution of the world famous poet and writer Rabindranath Tagore who is also known as Gurudev, and Basanta Utsav was initiated by him only. He wanted all his students and disciples to celebrate the festival of Holi and till
Current scenario
It is true that the vegetable started with only the visva-bharati students, but right now it is not confined to any particular area. Right now it is open to all which is the reason why you will be able to visit this place and enjoy the celebrations without any restrictions. This your basanta Utsav is on Wednesday 20 March, 2019 and just celebrations will stretch on to Thursday 21st March.
Things to see and do During Basanta Utsav
The very first thing that will grab your attention is the decoration that has been made by the Visva Bharati students. The entire place is covered with garlands and an array of flowers to make it look absolutely colourful and vibrant. Not only that there is a lot of cultural function is going on in every corner of the place and students flock together to be a part and parcel of it.
It seems like more of a cultural fair going on which is absolutely entertaining and it seems delightful to see the students be a part of the song dance and theatrical performance is being done on the Vishwa Bharti grounds. When Basanta Utsav get celebrated in the Visva Bharati University it becomes known as Rabindrik Basanta Utsav.
Vision of the Basanta Utsav
The program starts with a Prabhat Pheri in which the students of Visva Bharati University gets dressed in different shades of yellow and orange and they walk around in a synchronised group in and around the campus in Santiniketan while singing songs of Tagore and praising the season of spring. Later on, as the Prabhat Feri ends the students greet Each Other as well as the strangers with best wishes and also smears Abir on their faces. They perform beautifully choreographed a Rabindrik dance, and the university program ends with Rabindra Sangeet.
All the girls wear sarees on that particular day and you will be able to notice colourful flower decorations on their heads while the boys wear “panjabi pajama”. This is done to bring the traditional and authentic essence of Bengali culture and interweave it with the nationwide celebration of Holi.
Right after the visva-bharati university program ends, The Other universities start having their programs under the specific tree named as the amrakunja in front of the university hostels. The best success of this program lies in the fact that people are not only all over India but all over the globe flock together to see this festivity and celebration that goes on the entire day. It is photographed by a number of professional photographers to be put up on the Global websites, which is another reason why it is so popular.
If you are an introvert or shy kind of a person, even then you will be forgetful of your shyness, and you would participate in the dance and song that is going on. There is a number of Handicrafts items that you would find in this place because during the basanta Utsav a lot of people come here to sell handmade things which are indeed beautiful. Here you will be able to interact with a number of different kinds of people and we can bet that is going to be great pleasurable experience for the people who love cultural Unison. If you look at the stalls you would love to see Handicrafts made up of cotton, straw, wood, Terracotta, et cetera.
After the entire program in sweets are distributed among all the people who have participated and greetings are exchanged. It is said that the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore love to the spring season and that is why many of his poems and songs are repeated in this festival to bring out the beauty of spring and how it brings happiness in our life.
Another impressive step that has been taken by the visva-bharati University authority is that all the colours that will be used in the festival should be organic in nature and therefore you will not be entitled to any toxins or allergic reactions. Each and every colour is crafted out of dried flowers and leaves so that everyone can play colours without any fear or apprehension.
In a nutshell, we would love to say that Bolpur Shantiniketan is in itself a beautiful place to visit at least for once, butts try to visit in during the Basanta Utsav because then you get to understand the true colour of celebration amidst the serenity of the place. If you want you can return on the same day but it is advisable that you stay there for at least two days to participate in each and every activity that is going on. You will be able to find ample accommodations over there so staying would not be a problem. Once you visit this place during Basanta Utsav you would want to attend it every single year.
About Author
Pritha Shyam is an avid lover of Kolkata and a travel blogger at that. She has been working extensively on travel articles for the last 6 years and wishes to make a mark in this dimension