Kuakata [কুয়াকাটা]
Bangladesh is
the festive land which celebrates many colorful festivals. The land of
diversify population and they carry out individual cultural identity. One of
them is Rash mela [fair]. It has religious significance. It’s held by grounds
of Rash lila or Purnima.
Rash mela mostly celebrated by
the Bishnupriya group of Manipuri hindu community of Bangladesh.
Rash Purnima is held on the day of full moon in the Bangla month of Kartik
(late autumn or mid October to mid november). It celebrated in honor
of Lord Krishna and his eternal love Sri Radhika.
In the afternoon the
festival begins with a dance depicting Lord Krishna's notorious young life.
Children dress up as Krishna and perform in
front of hundreds of devotees. In the evening begins Rash Nritya, a Manipuri
style dance performed by young girls wearing traditional Manipuri garbs.
Rash Mela is mainly celebrated
in dublarchar at sundarban,
kalapara at kuakata and komalganj at Maulvibazar. This is the main festival
of Manipuri. This festival also celebrated in the district Cooch
Behar, West Bengal, India.
Nowadays the festival has
taken the form of communal celebrations while in older days was only limited to
royal families .There are three days long rash mela held every year at kalapara
and dublarchar. As a tourist spot in kalapara this festival is co-organized by
local administration. This year it held from 1st-3rd November.
It’s a main seasonal attraction of Kuakata. Visitor comes here from all
over the country. Local administration takes proper security for the visitors.
About kuakata: It
is locally known as Sagar Kannya (Daughter of the Sea) is a rare scenic
beauty spot on the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. .
It is about 320 Kilometres south of Dhaka, the
capital, and about 70 Kilometres from the Patuakhali District headquarters. The kuakata beach is 30 km long and 6
km wide.
Kuakata is a famous tourist
destination for people from both home and abroad. The significantly exclusive
feature of the beach is that due to its "Cross Bow" like shape one can see both sunrise and sunset
from some of its locations. That perhaps makes Kuakata one of the world's
unique beaches. The long and wide beach at Kuakata has a typical natural
setting. This sandy beach has gentle slopes into the Bay of Bengal and
bathing there is as pleasant as is walking or diving.
Kuakata is truly a virgin
beach-a sanctuary for migratory winter birds, a series of coconut trees, sandy
beach of blue Bay, a feast for the eye. Forest,
boats plying in the Bay of Bengal with
colourful sails, fishing, towering cliffs, surfing waves everything here
touches every visitor's heart. The unique customs and costumes of the 'Rakhyne'
tribal families and Buddhist Temple of
about hundred years old indicate the ancient tradition and cultural heritage,
which are objects of great pleasure Kuakata is the place of pilgrimage of the
Hindus and Buddhist communities.
Communication: There exists road
commiunication between Dhaka and Patuakhali
district headquaters. But the journey may be long and a bit stressful. A much
easier way is to go to Barisal by
air and from there travel by road or water to Patuakhali or Kuakata. BRTC runs
a direct bus service from Dhaka to Kuakata via
Barisal. Besides, Bangladesh
Parjatan Corporation may organize guided package tours from Dhaka to
Kuakata on demand.
For accommodation visitor can
contract with Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Head Office at Dhaka.
There are small numbers of private facilities positioned here.
Information and photo
courtesy: wikipedia, the daily star, daily manab zomin, google and others.
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