BANGLADESH

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Bangladeshi art is a form of visual arts that has been practiced throughout the
land of what is now known as Bangladesh. Bangladeshi art has a perennial
history which originated more than two thousand years ago and is practiced
even to this date. Among the various forms of Bangladeshi art, photography,
architecture, sculpture and painting are the most notable.

Art and Crafts rank among the oldest as regards aesthetics in the history of
Bangladesh. Archaeological evidences authenticating this fact have been
brought to light by the excavations at Mahasthangarh, Bogra, Mainamati,
Comilla and most recently since 2001 AD, from Wari-Bateshwr in Narsindhi
district. People's arts and crafts are center to the study of any culture from
historical perspectives. Handcrafted objects provide essential pointers to the
socio-economic and cultural status, the spiritual and intellectual development
and values of a society.

Historically, the objects of arts and crafts were produced with specific intents
such as :

(a) utilitarian items

(b) ritual and ceremonial items

(c) personal decoration

(d) community requirements in structural architecture (nomadic, tribal, pastoral,

agricultural)

(d) implements of settled rural communities

(e) trade and commercial items (shells as currency, metal coins etc) and

(f) beautified objects for visual pleasure, ceremony and enjoyment. Patronage
of the priesthood, royalty and rich classes played a role in the production of
handmade crafts.'

The hierarchal (Jaierakel) Brahmanic culture followed by the Hindu caste

system held its influence over art-craft production. Skills were inherited ( in
ˈherədəd) from generation to generation because the religious system made it
specific as to what caste will do what without any deviation. There were castes
for producing objects of utility aesthetics what we call now arts and crafts. All
arts and crafts can be caregoraiz into many categories such as, ritual crafts,
traibel crafts, folk crafts, traditional crafts, classical high art, people's art /
popular art, folk utility crafts and contemporary crafts.'

SERVICES

PUBLIC SERVICES IN BANGLADESH

For a country to develop and keep up with the times, it is necessary that it
creates a working infrastructure. It is the country's public services sector that is
concerned with this. Public services in Bangladesh are services provided by the
government to the community. They include police departments, fire
departments, water supply, electricity, education, waste disposal and many
more. The Bangladesh Public Service Commission plays a vital role in
recruitment, promotion, discipline, posting and transfer of government servants.
This constitutional body ensures that decisions relating to the public services
sector are made in line with equity and merit.

DRESS

Bangladeshi people have unique dress preferences. Bangladeshi men

traditionally wear Panjabi on religious and cultural occasions. Bangladeshi men
wear lungi as casual wear (in rural areas) and shirt-pant or suits on formal
occasions. Shari is the main and traditional dress of Bangladeshi women also
and some young female also wears salwar kameez. In urban areas, women can
also be seen wearing Western clothes. The women also have a different
preference to which types of Sharee or any other popular dress like Salwar
kameez they would like to wear.
NATIONAL ANTHEM

"Amar Sonar Bangla" (Bengali: আমার সোনার বাংলা, pronounced [amar ʃonar

baŋla] English: "My Golden Bengal") is the National anthem of Bangladesh an
Ode to Mother Bengal the lyrics was written by Bengali polymath in
Rabindranath Tangore in 1905.

The word sonar literally means "made of gold", with "sona" meaning gold, and
"ar" showing possession. It is used as a term of endearment meaning
"beloved", but in the song the words sonar Bangla may be interpreted to
express the preciousness of Bengal.

TYPICAL DANCE

Folk dances of Bangladesh are simple, yet spontaneous and are passed down
from one generation to another. We look at five popular dances from the
country.

There are many forms of dance in Bangladesh, but the main style is folk dance,
also known as Bangladeshi regional dance.

Classical dances are more complex and need many practice sessions to
master, whereas folk dances are more natural.

They allow a level of freedom and expression through improvised and energetic
dance moves.

The best-known folk dances are:

 Dhali dance
 Dak dance
 Puppet dance
 Chhokra dance
 Ghatu dance
LANGUAGES

Bengali (Bangla), is the national language of Bangladesh, belongs to the Indo-

Aryan group of languages and is related to Sanskrit.

Bengali is the mother tongue of almost the entire population of Bangladesh.

However, the indigenous minority groups have their own languages and
dialects, some of which are Tibeto-Burman languages.

The Bengali language has two distinct styles: sadhu bhasa, the literary style,
which contains many words derived from Sanskrit, and calit bhasa, the
colloquial style, which is the standard medium of informal discourse, both
spoken and written.