Bangladesh Christians blend culture and custom with Christmas
Fairs, festivals promote communal spirit of togetherness and reconciliation.
 |
| Garo Christians in Bangladesh mark Christmas with a social feast and communal meal. (Photo by Stephan Uttom) |
Christmas is the only Christian religious festival that non-Christians know well. It is largely because Christmas is also the only Christian feast that enjoys a public holiday.
Christians, the majority of them Catholics, are a miniscule minority among Bangladesh's 160 million population, accounting for less than half a percent. Muslims comprise about 90 percent, Hindus 8 percent and the rest belongs to other religions including Buddhists and indigenous religions.
In Bangladesh, Christmas is popularly called bara din, or big day, marked with festivities and with decorations and illumination of homes and churches.
Half of about 500,000 Bangladeshi Christians belong to the majority Bengali group and the rest hail from various indigenous communities. During Christmas, both Bengali and indigenous Catholics have their traditional ways of celebrating the feast.
Since 2008, the Metropolitan Pastoral Council of Dhaka Archdiocese has organized pre-Christmas programs and fairs in the capital, which draws thousands of Christians and non-Christians.
This year, it was held Dec. 15-16, in the grounds of church-run Bottomley Girls' High School in central Dhaka.
"Over the years, our activities have gained popularity among people irrespective of religion," said program convener Father Albert Thomas Rozario, parish priest of Holy Rosary Church in Dhaka, the largest Catholic parish in the country.
"This helps us express and share Christmas joy and blessings with everyone, and also to give witness of our faith to people of other faiths," Father Rozario said.
Across Bangladesh, Christmas cultural activities are dominated by carol competitions. Caroling in Bangladesh takes its cue from Hindu traditions; devotional songs are accompanied with dancing in rhythm of a harmonium, or pump organ, a two-sided clay drum known as a khol and a korotal, a small hand-held instrument.
In Dhaka, Magis Bangla, a youth movement sponsored by the Jesuits, has been organizing a Christmas carol competition for youth groups since 2010.
This year, 12 Dhaka-based youth groups participated in the competition at Tejgaon, in central Dhaka on Dec. 12.
The show aims to promote Bengali culture and music, organizers say.
"Besides sharing the joy of Christmas we strive for promoting and enriching traditional Bengali culture and music," said Jesuit Father Pradeep Perez, Magis Bangla coordinator.
"We prepare innovative stages to help young people learn how denounce unrealistic materials. Inspired by the pope's encyclical "Laudato si'," we have tried to raise their awareness about environment protection," Father Perez said.
Traditionally, Catholics in the Bhawal region in the north of Dhaka, a Bengali Catholic stronghold covering seven parishes, mark Christmas with traditional baithak, or social meetings.
For the baithak, all able persons in a village visit every neighbor one by one after Mass on Christmas day. They gather and sit in the yard of each house they visit, while the host family offers sweets and homemade cakes.
Depending on the size of the village, the gatherings can continue for three days.
Although in decline in Bhawal, the tradition has been well preserved in four parishes in northern Rajshahi Diocese where migrant Bengali Catholics from the Bhawal region are in the majority.
"Baithak is a traditional way of passing on Christmas greetings to each other and to know each other better. At the end of the year, it boosts our social bonding," said Abraham Costa, a village leader from St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Foilzana, northern Pabna district.
"We have inherited this tradition from our forefathers and we would pass it on to our future generations," Costa added.
In northeastern Sylhet Diocese, indigenous Khasia Catholics mark Christmas with special prayers and a feast on Dec. 25-26.
Khasia is matriarchal ethnic tribe found in Bangladesh and India.
Khasia Catholics from every punji (tea estate village) attend three separate prayer services on Christmas Day.
"Christmas is considered a special, sacred day of blessings. So, Khasia Catholics flock to the church three times and they refrain from other festivities that might obstruct their devotion to the liturgy," said Oblate Father Pius Pohdueng, a Khasia himself.
The following day villagers gather at the village head's home for a social feast. Every family contributes money and other materials for a communal meal and cultural activities.
"This is an expression of the unique community life of the Khasia people. It helps them reinforce their unity and solidarity," Father Pohdueng said.
Like the Khasias, indigenous Garo Catholics from northeastern Mymensingh Diocese have traditional communal meals in villages on Christmas Day.
"Villagers choose a particular house for next year's feast and everyone contributes to arranging and preparing the meal which they share together," said Subhash Jengcham, a Catholic Garo writer and researcher.
Reconciliation
For indigenous Mahali Catholics in northern Rajshahi Diocese, Christmas is a time to bring an end to social disputes and to reconcile with neighbors.
In the afternoon of Christmas Day, Mahali villagers gather for a social meal. Ahead of the meal they mediate disputes between villagers.
"Christmas reminds us that Jesus descended to Earth to save us from sins. So, we take this occasion to bring an end to disputes and rivalry," said John Jogen Marandi, a catechist from Rajshahi.
"We try to forgive and forget our past wrongdoings, and take vows to live a better life in the coming year with the Christmas spirit," he said.
Source: UCAN
No comments:
Post a Comment