118-647: Gangasagar Mela ( Bengali : গঙ্গাসাগর মেলা ) is a mela and festival in Hinduism , held every year at Gangasagar , West Bengal , India. The confluence of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal is called the Gangasagar , the fair is held every year on Makar Sankranti at Kapilmuni's ashram located on the Gangasagar. The mela is celebrated on 14 or 15 January every year. Gangasagar Mela
236-575: A bana (arrow) in his right hand, while he holds the dhanus (bow) in his left. The most recommended icon for him is that he be shown standing in tribhanga pose (thrice bent "S" shape). He is shown black, blue or dark color, typically wearing reddish color clothes. Rama is often accompanied with his brother Lakshmana on his left side while his consort Sita always on his right, both of golden-yellow complexion. His monkey companion Hanuman stands nearby with folded arms. The group can be accompanied with Rama's brothers Bharata and Shatrughna too. Who
354-403: A "thinking hearts" approach. Second, he emphasises through what he says and what he does a union of "self-consciousness and action" to create an "ethics of character". Third, Rama's life combines the ethics with the aesthetics of living. The story of Rama and people in his life raises questions such as "is it appropriate to use evil to respond to evil?", and then provides a spectrum of views within
472-492: A bid to lessen this burden on young learners, efforts have been made by educational institutions in the two main Bengali-speaking regions (West Bengal and Bangladesh) to address the opaque nature of many consonant clusters, and as a result, modern Bengali textbooks are beginning to contain more and more "transparent" graphical forms of consonant clusters, in which the constituent consonants of a cluster are readily apparent from
590-464: A charming countenance, and coppery eyes; he has his clavicle concealed and is known by the people as Rama. He has a voice (deep) like the sound of a kettledrum and glossy skin, is full of glory, square-built, and of well-proportioned limbs and is endowed with a dark-brown complexion. Rama's life story is imbued with symbolism . According to Sheldon Pollock , the life of Rama as told in the Indian texts
708-509: A charming, well built person of a dark complexion ( varṇam śyāmam ) and long arms ( ājānabāhu , meaning a person whose middle finger reaches beyond their knee). In the Sundara Kanda section of the epic, Hanuman describes Rama to Sita when she is held captive in Lanka , to prove to her that he is indeed a messenger from Rama. He says: He has broad shoulders, mighty arms, a conch-shaped neck,
826-590: A different word from a speaker of Standard Bengali in Bangladesh, even though both words are of native Bengali descent. For example, the word salt is লবণ lôbôṇ in the east which corresponds to নুন nun in the west. Bengali exhibits diglossia , though some scholars have proposed triglossia or even n-glossia or heteroglossia between the written and spoken forms of the language. Two styles of writing have emerged, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax : Linguist Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar categorises
944-480: A diphthong. The total number of diphthongs is not established, with bounds at 17 and 31. An incomplete chart is given by Sarkar (1985) of the following: In standard Bengali, stress is predominantly initial. Bengali words are virtually all trochaic ; the primary stress falls on the initial syllable of the word, while secondary stress often falls on all odd-numbered syllables thereafter, giving strings such as in সহযোগিতা shô -hô- jo -gi- ta "cooperation", where
1062-503: A fruit. But every time she gave it to him she first tasted it to ensure that it was sweet and tasty as a testament to her devotion. Rama also understood her devotion and ate all the half-eaten bers given by her. Such was the reciprocation of love and compassion he had for his people. This place is believed in the Hindu tradition to be the same as Chitrakoot on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The region has numerous Rama temples and
1180-482: A just and fair rule. It is believed by many that when Rama returned people celebrated their happiness with diyas (lamps), and the festival of Diwali is connected with Rama's return. Upon Rama's accession as king, rumours emerge that Sita may have gone willingly when she was with Ravana; Sita protests that her capture was forced. Rama responds to public gossip by renouncing his wife and asking her to prove her chastity in front of Agni (fire). She does and passes
1298-672: A large scale and were communally limited. Owing to Bengal's geographic location, Bengali areas bordering non-Bengali regions have been influenced by each other. Small numbers of people in Midnapore , which borders Odisha , have used the Odia script to write in Bengali. In the border areas between West Bengal and Bihar , some Bengali communities historically wrote Bengali in Devanagari , Kaithi and Tirhuta . In Sylhet and Bankura , modified versions of
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#17328556247011416-660: A majority in Bangladesh speaks dialects notably different from SCB. Some dialects, particularly those of the Chittagong region, bear only a superficial resemblance to SCB. The dialect in the Chittagong region is least widely understood by the general body of Bengalis. The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one variety – often, speakers are fluent in Cholitobhasha (SCB) and one or more regional dialects. Even in SCB,
1534-560: A part in the adoption of the English alphabet to write Bengali, with certain social media influencers publishing entire novels in Roman Bengali. Rama Traditional Rama ( / ˈ r ɑː m ə / ; Sanskrit : राम , IAST : Rāma , Sanskrit: [ˈraːmɐ] ) is a major deity in Hinduism . He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu . In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he
1652-437: A person, Rama personifies the characteristics of an ideal person ( purushottama ). He had within him all the desirable virtues that any individual would seek to aspire, and he fulfils all his moral obligations. Rama is considered a maryada purushottama or the best of upholders of Dharma. According to Rodrick Hindery, Book 2, 6 and 7 are notable for ethical studies. The views of Rama combine "reason with emotions" to create
1770-513: A rounded total of 280 million) worldwide. The Bengali language is native to the region of Bengal , which comprises the present-day nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal . Besides the native region it is also spoken by the Bengalis living in Tripura , southern Assam and the Bengali population in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Bengali is also spoken in
1888-408: A special diacritic, called the hôsôntô (্) , may be added below the basic consonant grapheme (as in ম্ [m] ). This diacritic, however, is not common and is chiefly employed as a guide to pronunciation. The abugida nature of Bengali consonant graphemes is not consistent, however. Often, syllable-final consonant graphemes, though not marked by a hôsôntô , may carry no inherent vowel sound (as in
2006-575: A state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan . On 21 February 1952, five students and political activists were killed during protests near the campus of the University of Dhaka ; they were the first ever martyrs to die for their right to speak their mother tongue. In 1956, Bengali was made a state language of Pakistan. 21 February has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh and has also been commemorated as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO every year since 2000. In 2010,
2124-463: A vowel in isolation from any preceding or following consonant, the independent form of the vowel is used. For example, in মই [moj] "ladder" and in ইলিশ [iliʃ] "Hilsa fish", the independent form of the vowel ই is used (cf. the dependent form ি) . A vowel at the beginning of a word is always realised using its independent form. In addition to the inherent-vowel-suppressing hôsôntô , three more diacritics are commonly used in Bengali. These are
2242-568: Is "charming, beautiful, lovely" or "darkness, night". The Vishnu avatar named Rama is also known by other names. He is called Ramachandra (beautiful, lovely moon), or Dasarathi (son of Dasaratha), or Raghava (descendant of Raghu, solar dynasty in Hindu cosmology). He is also known as Ram Lalla (Infant form of Rama) . Additional names of Rama include Ramavijaya ( Javanese ), Phreah Ream ( Khmer ), Phra Ram ( Lao and Thai ), Megat Seri Rama ( Malay ), Raja Bantugan ( Maranao ), Ramar or Raman ( Tamil ), and Ramudu ( Telugu ). In
2360-494: Is Bangladesh's national march, written by The National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bengali in 1928. It was adopted as the national marching song by the Bangladeshi government in 1972. Additionally, the first two verses of Vande Mataram , a patriotic song written in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , was adopted as the "national song" of India in both the colonial period and later in 1950 in independent India. Furthermore, it
2478-538: Is Rama I Think of that Rama Who lives in Ayodhya Who is decorated with gems Who sits beneath a golden canopy Whose doorways are festooned with mandana flowers. He, who is seated on a throne Surrounded by celestial vehicles Who is revered by rishis Who has Sita on the left Who is served by Lakshmana ; Who is the blue complexioned, Whose face is tranquil, Who is adorned with ornaments — Rama Rahasya Upanishad . The Ramayana describes Rama as
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#17328556247012596-468: Is a cursive script with eleven graphemes or signs denoting nine vowels and two diphthongs , and thirty-nine graphemes representing consonants and other modifiers. There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms. The letters run from left to right and spaces are used to separate orthographic words . Bengali script has a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the graphemes that links them together called মাত্রা matra . Since
2714-508: Is a masterpiece that offers a framework to represent, conceptualise and comprehend the world and the nature of life. Like major epics and religious stories around the world, it has been of vital relevance because it "tells the culture what it is". Rama's life is more complex than the Western template for the battle between the good and the evil, where there is a clear distinction between immortal powerful gods or heroes and mortal struggling humans. In
2832-573: Is also mentioned in Raghuvaṃśa , a Sanskrit epic poem written by the great poet Kalidasa in the fifth century AD. There is disagreement over the exact age of Kapil Muni's ashram. The temple of Kapil Muni is mentioned in the 16th century ancient Puthi Tirthaattvapradayini ( Bengali : তীর্থতত্ত্বপ্রদায়িনী ). An article about the Gangasagar Mela was printed on February 4, 1837, in the once popular Bengali newspaper Harkara ( Bengali : হরকরা ). It
2950-562: Is also spoken by the Bengali diasporas ( Bangladeshi diaspora and Indian Bengalis) across Europe, North America, the Middle East and other regions. Bengali was accorded the status of a classical language by the government of India on 3 October 2024. It is the second most spoken and fourth fastest growing language in India , following Hindi in the first place, Kashmiri in the second place, and Meitei ( Manipuri ), along with Gujarati , in
3068-400: Is an abugida , a script with letters for consonants, with diacritics for vowels, and in which an inherent vowel (অ ô ) is assumed for consonants if no vowel is marked. The Bengali alphabet is used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India (Assam, West Bengal, Tripura). The Bengali alphabet is believed to have evolved from a modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE (or 10th–11th century). It
3186-404: Is an important Vaishnava pilgrimage site. The texts describe nearby hermitages of Vedic rishis (sages) such as Atri , and that Rama roamed through forests, lived a humble simple life, provided protection and relief to ascetics in the forest being harassed and persecuted by demons, as they stayed at different ashrams . After ten years of wandering and struggles, Rama arrives at Panchavati, on
3304-668: Is believed by many that the national anthem of Sri Lanka ( Sri Lanka Matha ) was inspired by a Bengali poem written by Rabindranath Tagore , while some even believe the anthem was originally written in Bengali and then translated into Sinhala . After the contribution made by the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force in the Sierra Leone Civil War under the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone ,
3422-699: Is considered a separate language, although it shares similarities to Northern Bengali dialects. During the standardisation of Bengali in the 19th century and early 20th century, the cultural centre of Bengal was in Kolkata , a city founded by the British. What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of Nadia and Kushtia District . There are cases where speakers of Standard Bengali in West Bengal will use
3540-552: Is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man ( maryāda puruṣottama ), Rama is the male protagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana . His birth is celebrated every year on Rama Navami , which falls on the ninth day of the bright half ( Shukla Paksha ) of the lunar cycle of Chaitra (March–April), the first month in the Hindu calendar . According to the Ramayana , Rama
3658-417: Is faced with the question of appropriate ethical response. In the Indian tradition, states Richman, the social value is that "a warrior must never harm a woman". The details of the response by Rama and Lakshmana, and justifications for it, has numerous versions. Similarly, there are numerous and very different versions to how Rama deals with rumours against Sita when they return victorious to Ayodhya, given that
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3776-577: Is held at Gangasagar , Sagar Dwip . The place belongs to South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal . The Mela is organized around Kapil Muni's ashram . The site of the Mela is on the banks of the confluence of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal . Pilgrims from different states of India arrive on the occasion of Ganga bath and the Gangasagar Mela. Most of the pilgrims first arrive at Kolkata to visit Gangasagar. Transit camps are established in Kolkata every year for
3894-404: Is known as Apabhraṃśa , by the end of the first millennium. The Bengali language evolved as a distinct language over the course of time. Though some archaeologists claim that some 10th-century texts were in Bengali, it is not certain whether they represent a differentiated language or whether they represent a stage when Eastern Indo-Aryan languages were differentiating. The local Apabhraṃśa of
4012-648: Is organized on the occasion of the holy dip on Makar Sankranti , usually on January 14 or 15. Makar Sankranti is set by the solar cycle and corresponds to the exact time astronomical event of the Sun entering Capricorn and is observed on a day that usually falls on 14 January of the Gregorian calendar, but on 15 January in leap years. Makar Sankranti's date and time is analogous to Sidereal time of Zodiac sign of Capricorn (when sun enters). In 2023, holy dip started on January 14, 6:30 PM and ended on January 15, 6:53 PM. Gangasagar Mela
4130-451: Is related to the term ratri , which means night. In another context in other Vedic texts, the word means "pleasing, delightful, charming, beautiful, lovely". The word is sometimes used as a suffix in different Indian languages and religions, such as Pali in Buddhist texts, where -rama adds the sense of "pleasing to the mind, lovely" to the composite word. Rama as a first name appears in
4248-477: Is set out below in the International Phonetic Alphabet (upper grapheme in each box) and romanisation (lower grapheme). Bengali is known for its wide variety of diphthongs , combinations of vowels occurring within the same syllable . Two of these, /oi̯/ and /ou̯/ , are the only ones with representation in script, as ঐ and ঔ respectively. /e̯ i̯ o̯ u̯/ may all form the glide part of
4366-405: Is the fifth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language . Bengali is the official , national , and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh , with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language. It is the second-most widely spoken language in India . It
4484-401: Is the kidnapping of Sita by the demon-king Ravana , followed by Rama and Lakshmana's journey to rescue her. The entire life story of Rama, Sita and their companions allegorically discusses duties, rights and social responsibilities of an individual. It illustrates dharma and dharmic living through model characters. Rama is especially important to Vaishnavism . He is the central figure of
4602-627: Is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura and the Barak Valley region of the state of Assam . It is also the second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. It is the most widely spoken language in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal , and is spoken by significant populations in other states including Bihar , Arunachal Pradesh , Delhi , Chhattisgarh , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland , Odisha and Uttarakhand . Bengali
4720-470: Is the second largest Hindu fair (after Kumbh Mela ). Many people from different states of India come here every year to take a holy bath on Makar Sankranti day. In 2023, State minister Aroop Biswas said about 51 lakhs devotees gathered in the mela . The Gangasagar is mentioned in the Mahabharata's Vana Parva , which provides proof of the existence of the pilgrimage site in 1500–2000 BC. According to
4838-506: Is written, "The one temple in this place ( Sagar Dwip ) has been known to people for 1400 years. In this temple there is established a Siddhapurusha named Kapil Muni . Also, King Devapala of the Pala dynasty mentions in an inscription that he performed rituals at the confluence of the Gangasagar. During medieval times, pilgrims from every corner of the subcontinent defied many obstacles and dangers to reach Gangasagar on Makar Sankranti . During
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4956-676: The Balakanda section of the Ramayana . These were Lakshmana , Bharata and Shatrughna . The extant manuscripts of the text describes their education and training as young princes, but this is brief. Rama is portrayed as a polite, self-controlled, virtuous youth always ready to help others. His education included the Vedas , the Vedangas as well as the martial arts. The years when Rama grew up are described in much greater detail by later Hindu texts, such as
5074-818: The Mahabharata , the Pandavas traveled from the banks of the river Kaushik and reached the Gangesagarasangam , Confluence of Ganges and Sagara (Sea). According to Hinduism , the "Gangasagarasangam" mentioned in the Mahabharata is Gangasagar in Sagardwip , situated at the estuary of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers – one of the two main branches of the Ganges– on the sea coast of West Bengal . Legend has it that Kapilmuni ,
5192-450: The Pinaka , the bow of the deity Shiva . Many princes attempted and failed to string the bow. During this time, Vishvamitra had brought Rama and his brother Lakshmana to the forest for the protection of a yajna (ritual sacrifice). Hearing about the svayamvara , Vishvamitra asked Rama to participate in the ceremony with the consent of Janaka, who agreed to offer Sita's hand in marriage to
5310-508: The Ramcharitmanas – a popular treatise that inspires thousands of Ramlila festival performances during autumn every year in India. Rama legends are also found in the texts of Jainism and Buddhism , though he is sometimes called Pauma or Padma in these texts, and their details vary significantly from the Hindu versions. Jain Texts also mentioned Rama as the eighth balabhadra among
5428-448: The Vishnu sahasranama , Rama is the 394th name of Vishnu . In some Advaita Vedanta inspired texts, Rama connotes the metaphysical concept of Supreme Brahman who is the eternally blissful spiritual Self (Atman, soul) in whom yogis delight nondualistically. The root of the word Rama is ram- which means "stop, stand still, rest, rejoice, be pleased". According to Douglas Q. Adams ,
5546-500: The Aesop's Fables in Bengali was printed using Roman letters based on English phonology by the Scottish linguist John Gilchrist . Consecutive attempts to establish a Roman Bengali have continued across every century since these times, and have been supported by the likes of Suniti Kumar Chatterji , Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda , and Muhammad Enamul Haq . The Digital Revolution has also played
5664-606: The Arabic , Persian , and Turkic languages . The arrival of merchants and traders from the Middle East and Turkestan into the Buddhist -ruling Pala Empire , from as early as the 7th century, gave birth to Islamic influence in the region. In the 13th century, subsequent Arab Muslim and Turco-Persian expeditions to Bengal heavily influenced the local vernacular by settling among the native population. Bengali absorbed Arabic and Persian influences in its vocabulary and dialect, including
5782-468: The Constitution of Bangladesh states Bengali to be the sole official language of Bangladesh. The Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 , made it mandatory to use Bengali in all records and correspondences, laws, proceedings of court and other legal actions in all courts, government or semi-government offices, and autonomous institutions in Bangladesh. It is also the de facto national language of
5900-564: The Kaithi script had some historical prominence, mainly among Muslim communities. The variant in Sylhet was identical to the Baitali Kaithi script of Hindustani with the exception of Sylhet Nagri possessing matra . Sylhet Nagri was standardised for printing in c. 1869 . Up until the 19th century, numerous variations of the Arabic script had been used across Bengal from Chittagong in
6018-701: The Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were influential in the first millennium when Bengal was a part of the Greater Magadhan realm. The local varieties had no official status during the Gupta Empire , and with Bengal increasingly becoming a hub of Sanskrit literature for Hindu priests, the vernacular of Bengal gained a lot of influence from Sanskrit. Magadhi Prakrit was also spoken in modern-day Bihar and Assam , and this vernacular eventually evolved into Ardha Magadhi . Ardha Magadhi began to give way to what
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#17328556247016136-520: The Nadia region . Bengali shows a high degree of diglossia , with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language. Modern Bengali vocabulary is based on words inherited from Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, along with tatsamas and reborrowings from Sanskrit and borrowings from Persian , Arabic , Austroasiatic languages and other languages with which it has historically been in contact. In
6254-451: The Ramavali by Tulsidas . The template is similar to those found for Krishna , but in the poems of Tulsidas , Rama is milder and reserved introvert, rather than the prank-playing extrovert personality of Krishna. In the kingdom of Mithilā, Janaka conducted a svayamvara ceremony at his capital with the condition that she would marry only a prince who would possess the strength to string
6372-575: The Ramayana , such as the Paumacariya (literally deeds of Padma) by Vimalasuri, also mention the details of the early life of Rama. The Jain texts are dated variously, but generally pre-500 CE, most likely sometime within the first five centuries of the common era. Moriz Winternitz states that the Valmiki Ramayana was already famous before it was recast in the Jain Paumacariya poem, dated to
6490-590: The University of Karachi (established by East Pakistani politicians before Independence of Bangladesh ) also offers regular programs of studies at the Bachelors and at the Masters levels for Bengali Literature. The national anthems of both Bangladesh ( Amar Sonar Bangla ) and India ( Jana Gana Mana ) were written in Bengali by the Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore . Notuner Gaan known as " Chol Chol Chol"
6608-499: The boldface represents primary and secondary stress. Native Bengali words do not allow initial consonant clusters ; the maximum syllabic structure is CVC (i.e., one vowel flanked by a consonant on each side). Many speakers of Bengali restrict their phonology to this pattern, even when using Sanskrit or English borrowings, such as গেরাম geram (CV.CVC) for গ্রাম gram (CCVC) "village" or ইস্কুল iskul (VC.CVC) for স্কুল skul (CCVC) "school". The Bengali-Assamese script
6726-557: The phonology of Eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalised vowels and an alveolar articulation of what are categorised as the "cerebral" consonants (as opposed to the postalveolar articulation of western Bengal). Some varieties of Bengali, particularly Sylheti , Chittagonian and Chakma , have contrastive tone ; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words. Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages. Similarly, Hajong
6844-481: The "real" version, rather all the versions of Rama story are real and true in their own meanings to the local cultural tradition, according to scholars such as Richman and Ramanujan. The stories vary in details, particularly where the moral question is clear, but the appropriate ethical response is unclear or disputed. For example, when demoness Shurpanakha disguises as a woman to seduce Rama, then stalks and harasses Rama's wife Sita after Rama refuses her, Lakshmana
6962-608: The 16th century, Portuguese missionaries began a tradition of using the Roman alphabet to transcribe the Bengali language. Though the Portuguese standard did not receive much growth, a few Roman Bengali works relating to Christianity and Bengali grammar were printed as far as Lisbon in 1743. The Portuguese were followed by the English and French respectively, whose works were mostly related to Bengali grammar and transliteration. The first version of
7080-637: The 19th and 20th centuries, there were two standard forms of written Bengali: In 1948, the government of Pakistan tried to impose Urdu as the sole state language in Pakistan, giving rise to the Bengali language movement . This was a popular ethnolinguistic movement in the former East Bengal (today Bangladesh ), which arose as a result of the strong linguistic consciousness of the Bengalis and their desire to promote and protect spoken and written Bengali's recognition as
7198-473: The 1st millennium BCE. In Brockington's view, "based on the language, style and content of the work, a date of roughly the fifth century BCE is the most reasonable estimate". Historians often highlight that Rama's narrative reflects not only religious beliefs but also societal ideals and moral principles. They explore the possibility of Rama being a composite figure, embodying virtues and qualities valued in ancient Indian society . This perspective underscores
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#17328556247017316-662: The 63 salakapurusas . In Sikhism , Rama is mentioned as one of twenty-four divine avatars of Vishnu in the Chaubis Avtar in Dasam Granth . Rama is also known as Ram, Raman, Ramar, and Ramachandra ( / ˌ r ɑː m ə ˈ tʃ ə n d r ə / ; IAST : Rāmacandra , Sanskrit : रामचन्द्र ). Rāma is a Vedic Sanskrit word with two contextual meanings. In one context, as found in Atharva Veda , as stated by Monier Monier-Williams , it means "dark, dark-colored, black" and
7434-576: The 6th century, which competed with the ancestor of Bengali for some time. The ancestor of Bengali was the language of the Pala Empire and the Sena dynasty . During the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterised by the elision of the word-final অ ô and the spread of compound verbs, which originated from the Sanskrit Schwa . Slowly, the word-final ô disappeared from many words influenced by
7552-446: The Bay of Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankranti . Almost five-hundred thousand pilgrims thronged Gangasagar in 2008. For the rest of the year about 500,000 people come to the island. According to reports on 14 January 2018, 18-2 million people had visited Gangasagar in 2018, against 1.5 million in 2017. In 2023, about 51 lakhs pilgrims gathered in the Gangasagar Mela. The Gangasagar Mela
7670-401: The Bengali equivalent of a full stop – have been adopted from Western scripts and their usage is similar. Unlike in Western scripts (Latin, Cyrillic, etc.) where the letter forms stand on an invisible baseline, the Bengali letter-forms instead hang from a visible horizontal left-to-right headstroke called মাত্রা matra . The presence and absence of this matra can be important. For example,
7788-426: The Bengali script is an abugida, its consonant graphemes usually do not represent phonetic segments , but carry an "inherent" vowel and thus are syllabic in nature. The inherent vowel is usually a back vowel , either [ɔ] as in মত [m ɔ t] "opinion" or [o] , as in মন [m o n] "mind", with variants like the more open [ɒ] . To emphatically represent a consonant sound without any inherent vowel attached to it,
7906-558: The District Gazetteer. According to the person's writings, Kapilmuni's temple was temporary structure surrounded by a bamboo fence. In front of the temple was a huge banyan tree, under which were murti s (idols) of Rama and Hanuman. Gangasagar Mela is mentioned in the Bhāratēra Tīrthayātrā (in en: India's Pilgrimage) by Shri Madhavachandra Varman published in 1336 Baṅgābda . This text mentions "three days of bathing in
8024-528: The Earth (due to powers he had from Brahma's boon to him), Vishnu himself appeared and said he will incarnate as Rama (human) and kill Ravana (since Brahma 's boon made him invincible from all, including God, except humans). Śrī Rāma Jaya Rāma Jaya Jaya Rāma ( Sanskrit : श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम ) — Chant of Mahatma Gandhi containing thirteen syllables. It is known as Śrī Rāma Tāraka mantra ( lit. ' The Rama mantra for Salvation ' ). Rama had three brothers, according to
8142-436: The Gangasagar during Makara Sankranti in Poush or Magh month, the fair lasts for five days". After India's independence, the pilgrimage site began to flourish. Pictures of the temple were published in the Bengali book Gangasagar Mela O Pracina Aitihya by Tarundev Bhattacharya. According to the text, the permanent temple emerged in the form of a mature temple between 1964 and 1974. The Government of West Bengal assisted in
8260-514: The Indian traditions, particularly Rama, the story is about a divine human, a mortal god, incorporating both into the exemplar who transcends both humans and gods. Responding to evil A superior being does not render evil for evil, this is the maxim one should observe; the ornament of virtuous persons is their conduct. (...) A noble soul will ever exercise compassion even towards those who enjoy injuring others. — Ramayana 6.115 , Valmiki (Abridged, Translator: Roderick Hindery) As
8378-439: The Ramayana to have taken place as early as 1,500 BCE. The composition of Rama's epic story, the Ramayana , in its current form is usually dated between 8th and 4th century BCE. According to John Brockington, a professor of Sanskrit at Oxford known for his publications on the Ramayana , the original text was likely composed and transmitted orally in more ancient times, and modern scholars have suggested various centuries in
8496-566: The Ramayana's role as both a religious scripture and a cultural artifact, illustrating how legends like Rama's have shaped India's collective consciousness and ethical frameworks over centuries. Ariel Glucklich about this, quoted: "[...] Rama serve not only as historical narratives but also as moral and spiritual teachings, shaping cultural identity and religious beliefs in profound ways." Rama iconography shares elements of avatars of Vishnu, but has several distinctive elements. He has two hands, holds
8614-560: The Sanskrit word Rama is also found in other Indo-European languages such as Tocharian ram , reme , *romo- where it means "support, make still", "witness, make evident". The sense of "dark, black, soot" also appears in other Indo European languages, such as *remos or Old English romig . This summary is a traditional legendary account, based on literary details from the Ramayana and other historic mythology-containing texts of Buddhism and Jainism . According to Sheldon Pollock ,
8732-741: The Vedic literature, associated with two patronymic names – Margaveya and Aupatasvini – representing different individuals. A third individual named Rama Jamadagnya is the purported author of hymn 10.110 of the Rigveda in the Hindu tradition. The word Rama appears in ancient literature in reverential terms for three individuals: The name Rama appears repeatedly in Hindu texts, for many different scholars and kings in mythical stories. The word also appears in ancient Upanishads and Aranyakas layer of Vedic literature, as well as music and other post-Vedic literature, but in qualifying context of something or someone who
8850-511: The ancient Hindu epic Ramayana , a text historically popular in the South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures. His ancient legends have attracted bhashya (commentaries) and extensive secondary literature and inspired performance arts. Two such texts, for example, are the Adhyatma Ramayana – a spiritual and theological treatise considered foundational by Ramanandi monasteries, and
8968-444: The banks of river Godavari. This region had numerous demons ( rakshashas ). One day, a demoness called Shurpanakha saw Rama, became enamored of him, and tried to seduce him. Rama refused her. Shurpanakha retaliated by threatening Sita . Lakshmana, the younger brother protective of his family, in turn retaliated by cutting off the nose and ears of Shurpanakha . The cycle of violence escalated, ultimately reaching demon king Ravana , who
9086-536: The basis of modern standard colloquial Bengali. In the dialects prevalent in much of eastern and south-eastern Bangladesh ( Barisal , Chittagong , Dhaka and Sylhet Divisions of Bangladesh), many of the stops and affricates heard in West Bengal and western Bangladesh are pronounced as fricatives . Western alveolo-palatal affricates চ [ tɕɔ ] , ছ [ tɕʰɔ ] , জ [ dʑɔ ] correspond to eastern চ [tsɔ] , ছ [tsʰɔ~sɔ] , জ [dzɔ~zɔ] . The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on
9204-481: The condition that he was able to string the bow of Vishnu, Sharanga . When Rama obliged him with success, Parashurama acknowledged the former to be a form of Vishnu and departed to perform penance at the mountain Mahendra. The wedding entourage then reached Ayodhya, entering the city amid great fanfare. Thereafter, Rama lived happily with Sita for twelve (12) years. Meanwhile Rama and his brothers were away, Kaikeyi ,
9322-469: The consonant which comes first is put on top of or to the left of the one that immediately follows. In these ligatures, the shapes of the constituent consonant signs are often contracted and sometimes even distorted beyond recognition. In the Bengali writing system, there are nearly 285 such ligatures denoting consonant clusters. Although there exist a few visual formulas to construct some of these ligatures, many of them have to be learned by rote. Recently, in
9440-419: The construction of a permanent temple in the 1970s. In the following decades, the number of pilgrims to the fair increased. At present, millions of people congregate every year on the auspicious day of Makara Sankranti or Poush-Sankranti (mid-January) in the month of Poush to celebrate the Gangasagar fair and the pilgrimage site. In 2007, about 300,000 pilgrims took the holy dip where the Ganges (Hooghly) meets
9558-544: The convenience of pilgrims. All kinds of civic facilities are provided to these camps. The biggest obstacle to reaching Sagar Dwip is the Muri Ganga River; Pilgrims have to cross this river on their journey. However, due to the low navigability of the river, it is not possible to cross the river without tide . Every year, dredging is carried out in the river for uninterrupted ferry operation. Ferry services are operated between Kakdwip and Kachuberia, Sagar Dwip on
9676-503: The country. In India, Bengali is one of the 23 official languages . It is the official language of the Indian states of West Bengal , Tripura and in Barak Valley of Assam . Bengali has been a second official language of the Indian state of Jharkhand since September 2011. In Pakistan , Bengali is a recognised secondary language in the city of Karachi mainly spoken by stranded Bengalis of Pakistan . The Department of Bengali in
9794-714: The day of Ganga Bathing, Hindu devotees gather early in the morning and take a holy dip in the Ganges River . They offer offerings to Lord Surya and chant Lord Surya Mantra. After completing the rituals, people worship Kapil Muni and light a pradeep (Diya) with desi ghee . Some also perform Yajna and Homa on the day of Ganga bathing. Some devotees even observe a strict fast on Gangasana days. On this auspicious day of Ganga bathing, devotees express their gratitude to Goddess Ganga and seek forgiveness for their misdeeds knowingly or unknowingly. The District Administration of South 24 Parganas handed over special certificates to all
9912-587: The development of Dobhashi . Bengali acquired prominence, over Persian, in the court of the Sultans of Bengal with the ascent of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah . Subsequent Muslim rulers actively promoted the literary development of Bengali, allowing it to become the most spoken vernacular language in the Sultanate. Bengali adopted many words from Arabic and Persian , which was a manifestation of Islamic culture on
10030-672: The east to Meherpur in the west. The 14th-century court scholar of Bengal, Nur Qutb Alam , composed Bengali poetry using the Persian alphabet . After the Partition of India in the 20th century, the Pakistani government attempted to institute the Perso-Arabic script as the standard for Bengali in East Pakistan ; this was met with resistance and contributed to the Bengali language movement. In
10148-549: The eastern subcontinent, Purbi Apabhraṃśa or Abahatta (lit. 'meaningless sounds'), eventually evolved into regional dialects, which in turn formed three groups, the Bengali–Assamese languages , the Bihari languages , and the Odia language . The language was not static: different varieties coexisted and authors often wrote in multiple dialects in this period. For example, Ardhamagadhi is believed to have evolved into Abahatta around
10266-548: The emergence of Bangladesh in 1971. In 1999, UNESCO recognised 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the language movement. Although Sanskrit has been spoken by Hindu Brahmins in Bengal since the 3rd century BC, the local Buddhist population spoke varieties of the Prakrit . These varieties are generally referred to as "eastern Magadhi Prakrit ", as coined by linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji , as
10384-549: The figure of Rama incorporates more ancient "morphemes of Indian myths", such as the mythical legends of Bali and Namuci . The ancient sage Valmiki used these morphemes in his Ramayana similes as in sections 3.27, 3.59, 3.73, 5.19 and 29.28. The ancient epic Ramayana states in the Balakanda that Rama and his brothers were born to Kaushalya and Dasharatha in Ayodhya , a city on the banks of Sarayu River . The Jain versions of
10502-466: The final ন in মন [m o n] or the medial ম in গামলা [ɡamla] ). A consonant sound followed by some vowel sound other than the inherent [ɔ] is orthographically realised by using a variety of vowel allographs above, below, before, after, or around the consonant sign, thus forming the ubiquitous consonant-vowel typographic ligatures . These allographs, called কার kar , are diacritical vowel forms and cannot stand on their own. For example,
10620-455: The forest, and Lakshmana joins them in their exile as the caring close brother. Rama heads outside the Kosala kingdom, crosses Yamuna river and initially stays at Chitrakuta, on the banks of river Mandakini, in the hermitage of sage Vasishtha . During the exile, Rama meets one of his devotee, Shabari who happened to love him so much that when Rama asked something to eat she offered her ber ,
10738-714: The government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared Bengali as an honorary official language in December 2002. In 2009, elected representatives in both Bangladesh and West Bengal called for Bengali to be made an official language of the United Nations . Regional varieties in spoken Bengali constitute a dialect continuum . Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji grouped the dialects of Bengali language into four large clusters: Rarhi , Vangiya , Kamrupi and Varendri ; but many alternative grouping schemes have also been proposed. The south-western dialects ( Rarhi or Nadia dialect) form
10856-499: The graph মি [mi] represents the consonant [m] followed by the vowel [i] , where [i] is represented as the diacritical allograph ি (called ই-কার i-kar ) and is placed before the default consonant sign. Similarly, the graphs মা [ma] , মী [mi] , মু [mu] , মূ [mu] , মৃ [mri] , মে [me~mɛ] , মৈ [moj] , মো [mo] and মৌ [mow] represent the same consonant ম combined with seven other vowels and two diphthongs. In these consonant-vowel ligatures,
10974-412: The graphical form. However, since this change is not as widespread and is not being followed as uniformly in the rest of the Bengali printed literature, today's Bengali-learning children will possibly have to learn to recognise both the new "transparent" and the old "opaque" forms, which ultimately amounts to an increase in learning burden. Bengali punctuation marks, apart from the downstroke । daṛi –
11092-483: The language as: While most writing is in Standard Colloquial Bengali (SCB), spoken dialects exhibit a greater variety. People in southeastern West Bengal, including Kolkata, speak in SCB. Other dialects, with minor variations from Standard Colloquial, are used in other parts of West Bengal and western Bangladesh, such as the Midnapore dialect, characterised by some unique words and constructions. However,
11210-535: The language. Major texts of Middle Bengali (1400–1800) include Yusuf-Zulekha by Shah Muhammad Sagir and Srikrishna Kirtana by the Chandidas poets. Court support for Bengali culture and language waned when the Mughal Empire conquered Bengal in the late 16th and early 17th century. The modern literary form of Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the west-central dialect spoken in
11328-428: The letter ত tô and the numeral ৩ "3" are distinguishable only by the presence or absence of the matra , as is the case between the consonant cluster ত্র trô and the independent vowel এ e , also the letter হ hô and Bengali Ôbogroho ঽ (~ô) and letter ও o and consonant cluster ত্ত ttô . The letter-forms also employ the concepts of letter-width and letter-height (the vertical space between
11446-655: The mother of Bharata and the third wife of King Dasharatha , reminds the king that he had promised long ago to comply with one thing she asks, anything. Dasharatha remembers and agrees to do so. She demands that Rama be exiled for fourteen years to Dandaka forest. Dasharatha grieves at her request. Her son Bharata, and other family members become upset at her demand. Rama states that his father should keep his word, adds that he does not crave for earthly or heavenly material pleasures, and seeks neither power nor anything else. He informs of his decision to his wife and tells everyone that time passes quickly. Sita leaves with him to live in
11564-585: The neighbouring states of Odisha , Bihar , and Jharkhand , and sizeable minorities of Bengali speakers reside in Indian cities outside Bengal, including Delhi , Mumbai , Thane , Varanasi , and Vrindavan . There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in the Middle East , the United States , Singapore , Malaysia , Australia , Canada , the United Kingdom , and Italy . The 3rd article of
11682-420: The occasion of fairs and Ganga bath. Several temporary jetties were constructed for faster and more pilgrim transport. All vessels and buses can be monitored from a central control room. GPS and NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) technology is used in all the transport vehicles of Sagar Dwip for surveillance. Vessels are also provided with navigation lights to prevent visibility problems due to fog. On
11800-752: The older versions using the name Padma instead of Rama, while the later Jain texts just use Rama. In some Hindu texts, Rama is stated to have lived in the Treta Yuga that their authors estimate existed before about 5000 BCE. Archaeologist H. D. Sankalia , who specialised in Proto- and Ancient Indian history, find such estimate to be "pure speculation". A few other researchers place Rama to have more plausibly lived around 1250 BCE, based on regnal lists of Kuru and Vrishni leaders which if given more realistic reign lengths would place Bharat and Satwata, contemporaries of Rama, around that period. Sankalia dates various incidents of
11918-514: The parliament of Bangladesh and the legislative assembly of West Bengal proposed that Bengali be made an official UN language. As of January 2023, no further action has been yet taken on this matter. However, in 2022, the UN did adopt Bangla as an unofficial language, after a resolution tabled by India. In 2024, the government of India conferred Bengali with the status of classical language . Approximate distribution of native Bengali speakers (assuming
12036-405: The perilous journey, the pilgrims faced diseases like cholera and small pox . Due to the danger and death faced by the pilgrims the phrase originated — saba tīrtha bāra bāra, gaṅgāsāgara ēkabāra . Kapalkundala , a Bengali novel written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay , depicts a perilous journey to reach the Gangasagar. In 1914 AD, a man named Wilson mentions the temple of Kapilmuni in
12154-601: The pilgrims who came to Gangasagar Mela. Apart from the photo and phone number of the pilgrims, the certificates also contain a greeting message from the state government . Bengali language Bengali , also known by its endonym Bangla ( বাংলা , Bāṅlā , [ˈbaŋla] ), is a classical Indo-Aryan language from the Indo-European language family native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With over 237 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2024, Bengali
12272-405: The prince if he could fulfil the requisite task. When the bow was brought before him, Rama seized the centre of the weapon, fastened the string taut, and broke it in two in the process. Witnessing his prowess, Janaka agreed to marry his daughter to Rama and invited Dasharatha to his capital. During the homeward journey to Ayodhya, another avatar of Vishnu, Parashurama , challenged Rama to combat, on
12390-503: The progenitor of Samkhya philosophy, had an ashram at Gangasagara . Sixty thousand sons of Sagara King were consumed by Kapilmuni's wrath and their Ātman s (souls) were thrown into Naraka (hell) . Bhagiratha , the grandson of the Sagara king, brought the Ganga from Svarga (heaven) to wash the remains of the Sagara's sons and free their Ātman s (souls). The Gangasagar pilgrimage
12508-534: The rumours can neither be objectively investigated nor summarily ignored. Similarly the versions vary on many other specific situations and closure such as how Rama, Sita and Lakshmana die. The variation and inconsistencies are not limited to the texts found in the Hinduism traditions. The Rama story in the Jain tradition also show variation by author and region, in details, in implied ethical prescriptions and even in names –
12626-536: The second half of the 1st century CE, which pre-dates a similar retelling found in the Buddha-carita of Asvagosa, dated to the beginning of the 2nd century CE or prior. Dasharatha was the king of Kosala , and a part of the Kshatriya solar dynasty of Iksvakus . His mother's name Kaushalya literally implies that she was from Kosala. The kingdom of Kosala is also mentioned in Buddhist and Jain texts , as one of
12744-501: The sixteen Maha janapadas of ancient India , and as an important center of pilgrimage for Jains and Buddhists. However, there is a scholarly dispute whether the modern Ayodhya is indeed the same as the Ayodhya and Kosala mentioned in the Ramayana and other ancient Indian texts. Rama's birth, according to Ramayana , is an incarnation of God ( Vishnu ) as human. When demigods went to Brahma to seek liberation from Ravana's menace on
12862-758: The sky as a six-armed incarnate of Vishnu is found in the Burmese version of Rama's life story called Thiri Rama . Rama's legends vary significantly by the region and across manuscripts. While there is a common foundation, plot, grammar and an essential core of values associated with a battle between good and evil, there is neither a correct version nor a single verifiable ancient one. According to Paula Richman, there are hundreds of versions of "the story of Rama in India , Southeast Asia and beyond". The versions vary by region reflecting local preoccupations and histories, and these cannot be called "divergences or different tellings" from
12980-427: The so-called "inherent" vowel [ɔ] is first expunged from the consonant before adding the vowel, but this intermediate expulsion of the inherent vowel is not indicated in any visual manner on the basic consonant sign ম [mɔ] . The vowel graphemes in Bengali can take two forms: the independent form found in the basic inventory of the script and the dependent, abridged, allograph form (as discussed above). To represent
13098-536: The superposed chôndrôbindu (ঁ) , denoting a suprasegmental for nasalisation of vowels (as in চাঁদ [tʃãd] "moon"), the postposed ônusbar (ং) indicating the velar nasal [ŋ] (as in বাংলা [baŋla] "Bengali") and the postposed bisôrgô (ঃ) indicating the voiceless glottal fricative [h] (as in উঃ! [uh] "ouch!") or the gemination of the following consonant (as in দুঃখ [dukʰːɔ] "sorrow"). The Bengali consonant clusters ( যুক্তব্যঞ্জন juktôbênjôn ) are usually realised as ligatures, where
13216-524: The test. Rama and Sita live happily together in Ayodhya, have twin sons named Kusha and Lava , in the Ramayana and other major texts. However, in some revisions, the story is different and tragic, with Sita dying of sorrow for her husband not trusting her, making Sita a moral heroine and leaving the reader with moral questions about Rama. In these revisions, the death of Sita leads Rama to drown himself. Through death, he joins her in afterlife. Depiction of Rama dying by drowning himself and then emerging in
13334-635: The third place, according to the 2011 census of India . Bengali has developed over more than 1,400 years. Bengali literature , with its millennium-old literary history, was extensively developed during the Bengali Renaissance and is one of the most prolific and diverse literary traditions in Asia. The Bengali language movement from 1948 to 1956 demanding that Bengali be an official language of Pakistan fostered Bengali nationalism in East Bengal leading to
13452-484: The visible matra and an invisible baseline). There is yet to be a uniform standard collating sequence (sorting order of graphemes to be used in dictionaries, indices, computer sorting programs, etc.) of Bengali graphemes. Experts in both Bangladesh and India are currently working towards a common solution for this problem. Throughout history, there have been instances of the Bengali language being written in different scripts, though these employments were never popular on
13570-435: The vocabulary may differ according to the speaker's religion: Muslims are more likely to use words of Persian and Arabic origin, along with more words naturally derived from Sanskrit ( tadbhava ), whereas Hindus are more likely to use tatsama (words directly borrowed from Sanskrit). For example: The phonemic inventory of standard Bengali consists of 29 consonants and 7 vowels, as well as 7 nasalised vowels . The inventory
13688-479: Was a minister of Sugriva. Meanwhile, Ravana harasses Sita to be his wife, queen or goddess. Sita refuses him. Ravana gets enraged and ultimately reaches Lanka, fights in a war that has many ups and downs, but ultimately Rama prevails, kills Ravana and forces of evil, and rescues his wife Sita. They return to Ayodhya. The return of Rama to Ayodhya was celebrated with his coronation. It is called Rama pattabhisheka , and his rule itself as Rama rajya described to be
13806-509: Was born to Dasaratha and his first wife Kausalya in Ayodhya , the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala . His siblings included Lakshmana , Bharata , and Shatrughna . He married Sita . Born in a royal family, Rama's life is described in the Hindu texts as one challenged by unexpected changes, such as an exile into impoverished and difficult circumstances, and challenges of ethical questions and moral dilemmas. The most notable story involving Rama
13924-595: Was the brother of Shurpanakha. Ravana comes to Panchavati to take revenge on behalf of his family, sees Sita, gets attracted, ask Maricha , his uncle, to disguised himself as a magnificent deer to lure Sita, and kidnaps her to his kingdom of Lanka (believed to be modern Sri Lanka ) . Rama and Lakshmana discover the kidnapping, worry about Sita's safety, despair at the loss and their lack of resources to take on Ravana. Their struggles now reach new heights. They travel south, meet Sugriva , marshall an army of monkeys, and attract dedicated commanders such as Hanuman who
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