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Is the Nabanna festival still alive in rural Bengal?
Story in: December-2025
Story: Is the Nabanna festival still alive in rural Bengal?
Nabanna is a traditional rice or pitha festival in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Nabanna is one of the rituals and festivals celebrated at various stages of crop production in the agricultural society of Bengal. The word "Nabanna" means "new food" or "new food". Nabanna is a festival organized to mark the first cooking of rice prepared from the new Aman rice after harvesting it. This festival is usually held in the Bengali month of Agrahayan, i.e., after the Aman rice ripens in the autumn. In some places, there is a tradition of celebrating Nabanna in the month of Magh as well.
Ripe paddy is swaying across the fields of Lalmonirhat, bathed in the soft autumn sun. The smell of straw, the sound of threshing, and the smiling eyes of farmers all seem to be a festive season, but its main character, 'Nabanna', is no more. There are only memories, laments, and the cruel reality of changing times.
Once upon a time, rural Bengal would wake up to life at this time. Heaps of rice in the yard, fresh pitha-payes in the house, the noise of children, and the smell of the first rice being cooked would spread from one house to another. Today, those scenes can be found in stories, but not in the village.
Abdur Rahman, a 76-year-old farmer from Madati village in Kaliganj upazila, still clings to that memory. Time seems to have stopped a little in his eyes. 'In our time, Nabanna meant a festival after the rice harvest. There was scarcity, but there was joy. I used to make pitha, call my neighbors, and celebrate Hujur Milad. Today's children don't even hear the name of Navanna. The village tradition is slowly dying,' he said.
Mujibar Rahman, a 65-year-old farmer from Jongra village in Patgram, expressed his sorrow over the loss of the new rice cooking tradition. He said, 'Earlier, whenever new rice was brought, I would cook rice. I would feed it to Hujur and pray for him. That was the beginning of Navanna. Now, a group of people says, these are new inventions! That's why no one wants to do it anymore. I harvested the rice yesterday, but there is no festival.'
The women of rural Bengal believe that the change has come in the mindset of people. Rashida Begum from Baura village in Patgram said, 'Festivals bring people closer. But now no one has the time or the heart. People are confined to their homes in the world of mobile and TV. The courtyard where the smell of pitha used to rise earlier is now empty.’
Azizur Rahman of Basuniapara village in Aditmari further clarified, ‘People do not respect people. Earlier, whenever new paddy was harvested, there would be a kind of excitement in each house. Now only paddy comes to the house, not joy.’
Sociologists believe that the changing social structure of rural Bengal is one of the reasons for the loss of Nabanna. People have gradually shifted from an agricultural society to a market-based life. The joy of harvesting has been swallowed up by busyness, mobile phones, jobs, children living abroad, and the pressure of life.
However, the elders of the village believe that Nabanna was not just a food festival; it was a source of social relations. Wandering from one courtyard to another, stories, laughter, and sharing pitha and paes, all of these created a kind of sincere culture. If that culture is erased, the past of the village will be lost. The fields of Lalmonirhat are still the same as before. The rice ripens, the sun shines on the rice ears,
The farmer brings home the fruits of his hard work. But the festival? It never returns. There is new rice, but there is no excitement about the smell of the first rice. Now there is new rice in the house, but there is no scent of the new year.
Home Editorial Calendar Is the Nabanna festival still alive in rural Bengal?
Story: Is the Nabanna festival still alive in rural Bengal?
Nabanna is a traditional rice or pitha festival in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Nabanna is one of the rituals and festivals celebrated at various stages of crop production in the agricultural society of Bengal. The word "Nabanna" means "new food" or "new food". Nabanna is a festival organized to mark the first cooking of rice prepared from the new Aman rice after harvesting it. This festival is usually held in the Bengali month of Agrahayan, i.e., after the Aman rice ripens in the autumn. In some places, there is a tradition of celebrating Nabanna in the month of Magh as well.
Ripe paddy is swaying across the fields of Lalmonirhat, bathed in the soft autumn sun. The smell of straw, the sound of threshing, and the smiling eyes of farmers all seem to be a festive season, but its main character, 'Nabanna', is no more. There are only memories, laments, and the cruel reality of changing times.
Once upon a time, rural Bengal would wake up to life at this time. Heaps of rice in the yard, fresh pitha-payes in the house, the noise of children, and the smell of the first rice being cooked would spread from one house to another. Today, those scenes can be found in stories, but not in the village.
Abdur Rahman, a 76-year-old farmer from Madati village in Kaliganj upazila, still clings to that memory. Time seems to have stopped a little in his eyes. 'In our time, Nabanna meant a festival after the rice harvest. There was scarcity, but there was joy. I used to make pitha, call my neighbors, and celebrate Hujur Milad. Today's children don't even hear the name of Navanna. The village tradition is slowly dying,' he said.
Mujibar Rahman, a 65-year-old farmer from Jongra village in Patgram, expressed his sorrow over the loss of the new rice cooking tradition. He said, 'Earlier, whenever new rice was brought, I would cook rice. I would feed it to Hujur and pray for him. That was the beginning of Navanna. Now, a group of people says, these are new inventions! That's why no one wants to do it anymore. I harvested the rice yesterday, but there is no festival.'
The women of rural Bengal believe that the change has come in the mindset of people. Rashida Begum from Baura village in Patgram said, 'Festivals bring people closer. But now no one has the time or the heart. People are confined to their homes in the world of mobile and TV. The courtyard where the smell of pitha used to rise earlier is now empty.’
Azizur Rahman of Basuniapara village in Aditmari further clarified, ‘People do not respect people. Earlier, whenever new paddy was harvested, there would be a kind of excitement in each house. Now only paddy comes to the house, not joy.’
Sociologists believe that the changing social structure of rural Bengal is one of the reasons for the loss of Nabanna. People have gradually shifted from an agricultural society to a market-based life. The joy of harvesting has been swallowed up by busyness, mobile phones, jobs, children living abroad, and the pressure of life.
However, the elders of the village believe that Nabanna was not just a food festival; it was a source of social relations. Wandering from one courtyard to another, stories, laughter, and sharing pitha and paes, all of these created a kind of sincere culture. If that culture is erased, the past of the village will be lost. The fields of Lalmonirhat are still the same as before. The rice ripens, the sun shines on the rice ears,
The farmer brings home the fruits of his hard work. But the festival? It never returns. There is new rice, but there is no excitement about the smell of the first rice. Now there is new rice in the house, but there is no scent of the new year.
-Editor, based on online information
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