A slice of pitha village in a brick- stone city
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Photo:Barta24
In the late afternoon, the smell of whitewashed kundali and bibikhana, jamai adar, dim sundari, kshyatapuri, kheer patisapata, coconut molasses puli pitha, vapa, dudh chitai pitha on the rice of the house filled the mind. Looking around madly, I saw a small village. In the courtyard of each of the 30 houses of the village, pitha is made by the hands of the rural grandparents.
Grandchildren and all the elders of the house as if they have eaten pita together. Also, the elders of the house are also waiting when all the bahari pithas made by the murrabis will come to hand. Everyone's mind is touched by the prepared pithas.
In the rural environment, some people are busy taking pictures while standing next to the straw bales, many are sitting and listening to rural Bengali songs. Some are ploughing from one yard to another holding the hands of their loved ones.
But this is not a village, this scene is a brick-and-stone city of the Jatiya Shilpakala Academy. Such a rural image has been shown around the national pitha festival. 30 houses are made of straw. And in these houses, the Bahari Pithar of the lost village of Bengal has settled. Duck meat is available in some outlets. Many people are enjoying the satisfaction of the broth with rice glutinous white bread.
Apart from Vapa, Oil and Patisapta, the visitors enjoy Dal Pitha, Nakshi Pitha, Mal Pitha, Coconut Pitha. For Tk. 50 to Tk. 100, these rural pitha are being sold in the hands of the people of brick and stone cities. In this ten-day long fair, village Bengali songs are played in the evening, village dances to the rhythm of Bhawaiya songs give a different feeling to the busy city dwellers.
There are temporary inns, courtyards like village houses and shacks next to cow farms! Everyone is enjoying the festival in their own way with the exception of pithepuli.
Tripti Ghosh from Segunbagicha area has come to the fair. Growing up in Dhaka, she did not go to the village. Tripti Ghosh said, because my father was a government employee, he settled in Dhaka before I was born. So I was drawn to the scenery of the village since childhood. But I was surprised as well as moved by such a sight in a brick-and-stone city.
Anamika, a student of Dhaka University, said that such a festival in the city of car horns and traffic jams all day is like relieving fatigue. Thank you Shilpakala Academy and the Ministry of Culture, she said.
A visitor named Khandokar Mahamud Hasan said, a pool of the pure air of the village always pulls us. But even if there is no wind here, I can still eat childhood cakes; I think we are lucky in that.
Meanwhile, the evening jalsa is kept for the visitors. In various festivals, just like when the day light is gone, in front of the hurricane’s feeble lights in the village houses, the gathering of songs and Bhawaiya songs gathers. In this era of modernity, the traditions of rural Bengal have been lost in this way from Nagar to the city. It is our hope that every house in the city should have a rural style roof, not a village.
Bangladesh Shilpa Kala Academy Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky said that such an exceptional event is being held every year to bring back lost traditions and Pithepuli.
He said, we are trying to bring pitha artists from the rural level. This pitha festival is being held in every region of the country. We want to keep alive the original pithas that our mothers carefully prepare for the children of the family.
