BRAC University (BRACU) celebrated Poush Mela 1424 on Monday (15 January 2018) offering traditional food, handicrafts, clothing and music all throughout the day on its campus Building 1 celebrating Bangladesh’s culture.
Poush Mela has for long been a soul part of Bangalee culture, celebrated through a colourful carnival in rural Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal marking harvests in winter. It includes live performances of folk music, dance and play and village fairs.
Vice Chancellor Professor Saad Sayed Andaleeb PhD paid a visit to the BRACU fair which had food stalls containing different cuisines, pithas or rice cakes and mithai or sweet snacks.
The pithas varied in both taste and names -- patishapta, mangsho kuli, misti kuli, jhinuk pitha, pakom pitha, shir goza pitha, dudh chitoi and nakshi pitha.
Other crafts on offer included an assortment of handicrafts, earthen pots, jewelleries, and sarees woven in handlooms, especially those from Tangail. The traditional festive look was made complete with folk music of Bauls or mystic minstrel, fortunetelling parrots and a bioscope.
Street food and handicraft vendors were welcomed inside to participate.