Country: Bangladesh. To read an executive summary of the report, or the full report, click on the links below:. Download pdf - Bangla version. The Hindus believe that if the God Laxmi becomes kind on someone, he will have plenty of food and wealth. The guest will be entertained with his preferable foods. Just after arrival the guest is given ready foods like puffed rice, flattened rice, sweets, yogurt, fruits etc.
There are some foods which are restricted in Hindu and Islam religion. The Hindus never eat beef because they consider cow as one of their Gods. But, they drink the milk of cows. The Hindus also do not eat onion and garlic in most of the cases specially during the period of puja prayer by Hindus. On the other hand, the Muslims never eat the meat of pig because it is prohibited in the religion Islam.
Wines or such kind of hard drinks are also prohibited in Islam. The practices might have significant influence on controlling eating habit of the people of Bangladesh. Because controlling eating habit is necessary for human being for maintaining good health. Because, by born human being is devoted to take more and more food. So, it is difficult for a human being to control its eating habit. For example, if the food is delicious naturally human being, specially the people of Bangladesh who have little consciousness about nutrition, can not abstain themselves from taking more food.
Religious abstinence or holy fasting might be helpful for gaining self-control over the by-borne habit of taking more food i. People of different religions perform their religious rituals with festivity in Bangladesh. All of these rituals form an integral part of the cultural heritage of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a country of festival. There are also some festivals which are common Bengali festivals. Various kinds of foods are prepared during the festivals that expose the traditional food culture of the country.
The most common festivals and the integrated food culture are described below. Eid-ul-Fitre is observed on the 1st day of Shawal of the Islamic lunar calendar after one month of Ruja holly fasting during the month of Ramadan of the Islamic lunar calendar.
On the other hand, Eid-ul-Adha is observed on 10th of Jilhaj of the Islamic lunar calendar. In both of the festivals the Muslims arrange different kind of foods according to their financial ability.
The most important characteristics of Muslim festival is food with meat. The rich people eat huge amount of meat during the festival while the poor people also arrange some meat in any way. Mainly cows and often goat are slaughtered as Kurbani by almost every Muslim household except the very poor one. Therefore, there are huge amount of meat to eat at that time. According to Muslim religious law one- third of the meat have to be given to the poor relatives and neighbours.
The meat of Kurbani is also exchanged among the relatives as a very common tradition. Therefore, during Eid-ul-Adha almost every Muslim household have some meat. Beside the meat different kinds of sweet items specially Semai are cooked. Different kinds of home made cake are also prepared. Polao, Kurma, Rejala are very common food during the Eid festivals. Food is taken at the end of night within certain period of time before sunrise which is called Seheri. In seheri the Muslim people take food as they take in a common lunch or dinner.
But, it is always tried to make the food rich and delicious based on the financial ability. Then the whole day up to sunset no food even water is taken. Just after sunset they take food which is called iftar. The Muslim people arrange different kinds of foods in iftar based on the financial ability where Muri puffed rice , Chira flattened rice are common. On the other hand, the poor people arrange panta, hotchpotch, puffed rice etc.
According to Muslim religion feeding anyone who is observing holy fasting with iftar is a matter of virtue. So, during the month of Ramadan many Muslim arrange iftar party. The 27th night of Ramadan is called shab-e-kadar. The Muslim arranges special sweet food, beef or mutton with bread of rice powder on the occasion.
Feeding Mullah religious leader or learned man on the occasion is considered as a matter of virtue.
Actually, during the whole moth of Ramadan, as the Muslims believe, feeding Mullah is a matter of virtue. Many people specially the rich people arrange feeding ceremony on the occasion. In this ceremony the people arrange different delicious food like Polao, Kurma, Rejala, roast, sweets, yogurt, salad etc. Although there is no religious obligation to arrange any ceremony at the time of Khatna many people specially rich people arrange ceremony on the occasion and feed the relatives and surrounding people.
The ritual is arranged after 40 days of the death of a Muslim person. In Bengali language 40 means challish. So, the program is called Challisha. In this program the people feed specially the Mollas the religious leaders , poor people or beggars and also the relatives and the community people based on the ability of the arranging family. On this occasion food is arranged based on the taste and ability of the arranging family but commonly the food is meat based.
Plain rice and fish, beef and or mutton, vegetables are very common on the occasion. Some people also arrange Khichuri hotchpotch. In that case the hotchpotch is cooked with mutton or beef which is called Bhuna khichuri. The main objective of a Milad is to pray to Allah for something good. Different kind of foods are arranged in Milad but the sweet foods are very common. But, the common and main invitees are Moulavi Islamic educated people or religious leader.
On this occasion, traditionally the Muslims arrange different food items. Different kinds of sweet items namely halua, suji, payesh, khir etc. Exchange of food is very common tradition on the occasion. Hindu Festivals Hidu religious festivals have some similarity with the Muslim festivals but there is also much dissimilarities.
Among the similarities holy fasting upabash is a very common one. But, the Hindus observe holy fasting twice in every month which is called Ekadashi. Besides, the Hindus also observe holy fasting during many of their Puja religious festival or prayer of Hindu. But, not all Hindus observe the holy fasting. Among the dissimilarities the most vital one is in case of food arrangement.
For example, no fishes and meat are taken by Hindus during the period of any Puja. Mainly vegetarian foods are taken during Puja. The respondents of the study could not explain the reason behind the ritual. They just follow this as a religious obligation. But, now-a-days situation is little bit changing. Some people sometimes disobey this restriction but not in public.
However, the common and vital Hindu festivals relevant to traditional food culture of Bengali are described below. During the Puja period they usually take flattened rice chira , puffed rice muri , murki another kind of muri , coconut naru small hard ball-like structure made with coconut and different kind of sweets, yogurt etc.
During the Puja the Gods are feed with different kind of fruits and sweets including banana, milk, muri, chira, yogurt etc. This Prasad is then eaten by all. After the end of the Puja all kind of foods including fishes and meat are eaten. On occasion of this Puja the Hidus invite relatives and community peoples each other and feed with different kind of delicious foods.
The people go to fair and enjoy themselves and purchase many things from the fair including different kind of sweet food which are distributed among the family members and community people. During this puja no fishes and meat and even no food is taken for 24 hours. They take food at preceding night of the day of puja.
Then the whole day and night they take no food and even they can not sleep. Then the next day they can take food as usual. In the next day morning they break their fasting by taking Prasad of sweets.
Then they are allowed to take all kind of foods including fish and meat. During this puja all foods are allowed except fishes and meat. The common foods in this puja as Prasad are sweets, fruits, chira, muri, murki etc. Generally, this puja is held with the fruit jujube. So, before this puja no Hindu take jujube fruit. Like Swarasati puja all foods are allowed except fishes and meat during this puja.
In this puja food is taken at the preceding night and then the whole day is upabash. Then the puja is held at afternoon. Food is taken as usual after finishing of the puja. During upabash no cooked food can be taken including chira, muri but fruits, non-cooked sweets, water etc.
In the next day morning food is taken as usual including fish and meat. It is to mention here that there is another kind of Ekadashi which is called Nirjala Ekadashi because no food even water can be taken during such upabash. The arrangement of food in this puja also similar to the Durgapuja. During the last seven days of Chaitra no rice is taken, only different kind of fruits are taken. This is done only by them who are previously committed to do i. Then the meat of goat is distributed to all the neighbouring people who like to take.
It is observed in the Bangla month of Bhadra according to Bengali Almanac. On the occasion every household prepare pitha home made cake with palm juice. Other sweet food like khir, payesh etc. Different kind of pithas are also prepared. Hotchpotch is also a common food on the occasion. The Hindu people invite neighboring people and relatives and feed with aforesaid foods on the occasion.
The program is organized community based where Hindu community people take part. The program continues for five days. The organizers generally arrange hotchpotch on the occasion and feed the gathered people for five days. Besides, there are some other festivals observed by the Hindu community which is described below. Annaprashan is arranged when a child take Bhat for the first time in its life at the age of five months for the boy and seven month for the girl.
It was asked to the respondents of the study why the girls are late in this case. However, the respondents also informed that even few years back no birth day were observed in the rural area. But, Now-a-days birth day is celebrated in many houses.
In this program the Hindus feed thakore religious leader and community people with mainly vegetarian foods, different kind of sweets, yogurt etc. It is one of the numerous festivals that established the proverb "baro mase tero parban" thirteen festivals in twelve months to the land of Bengal. The villagers and local people from both the major religious groups join the festival with equal participation. The festival is celebrated with fair in Bengali mela which is called nabanna mela.
The fair is held at a central place of the surrounding villages generally near the rural market. People from several villages come to enjoy the fair. The rural cultural programs like Baul song, Jatra, Kabi-gaan etc. It's a festival of food; many local preparations of Bengali cuisine like pithas hand-made cakes are cooked and offered to the relatives and neighbouring people. During the festival various kinds of home-made pithas are prepared with newly harvested rice almost in every household of the rural area.
Different kinds of sweet food items specially payesh are also prepared on the occasion. However, it is unfortunate to say that now-a-days such festivals are being disappeared from the rural Bangladesh due mainly to aggression of corporate agriculture and corporate culture. Pohela Boishakh connects all ethnic Bengalis irrespective of religious and regional differences.
In Bangladesh, it is a national holiday. The festival is celebrated according to the Bengali Calendar. Bangla New Year's festivities are closely linked with rural life in Bengal. Usually on Pohela Boishakh, the home is thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned; people bathe early in the morning and dress in traditional clothes.
Special foods are prepared to entertain guests. This is one rural festival that has become enormously big in the cities, especially in Dhaka. Boishakhi fairs are arranged in many parts of the country. Various agricultural products, traditional handicrafts, toys, cosmetics, as well as various kinds of food and sweets are sold at these fairs.
The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers and dancers staging jatra traditional plays , pala gan, kobigan, jarigan, gambhira gan, gazir gan and alkap gan. They present folk songs as well as baul, marfati, murshidi and bhatiali songs. Among other attractions of these fairs are puppet shows and merry-go-rounds. Panta Ilish - a traditional platter of leftover rice soaked in water with fried Hilsa, supplemented with dried fish Shutki , pickles Achar , lentils dal , green chillies and onion - a popular dish for the Pohela Boishakh.
Pohela Boishakh celebrations also mark a day of cultural unity without distinction between class or religious affiliations. Of the major holidays celebrated in Bangladesh, only Pohela Boishakh comes without any preexisting expectations specific religious identity, culture of gift-giving, etc.
Unlike holidays like Eid ul-Fitr, where dressing up in lavish clothes has become a norm, or Christmas where exchanging gifts has become an integral part of the holiday, Pohela Boishakh is really about celebrating the simpler, rural roots of the Bengal.
As a result, more people can participate in the festivities together without the burden of having to reveal one's class, religion, or financial capacity. In this festival the people prepare different kind of pithas with new rice.
The pithas are exchanged within the relatives and the community people. The Hindus community observe Pushuria Puja on the 7th of Paush around 21st of December with new rice. Big ceremony is arranged on the occasion of marriage specially by the rich people. The poor people arrange the ceremony in a small scale. Arranging delicious food is a vital component of an marriage ceremony. The weeding party is arranged both at the house of bride and bridegroom.
On the occasion the relatives and the surrounding people of the community are invited. Different kinds of delicious foods are arranged based on the financial ability of the inviting families. It is always tried to satisfy the invitees with delicious foods. The peoples specially the Muslim peoples prefer meat based delicious items.
In this occasion the Muslim people arrange different delicious food like Polao, Kurma, Rejala, roast, fish, vegetables, sweets, yogurt, salad etc. But, the situation has been changed. Now-a-days the Hindus also arrange fish or meat items in the weeding party. Discriminatory Food Culture There are many discriminatory elements in traditional food culture of Bangladesh. Woman is one of the worst victims of such discriminations. In Annaprashan of Hidus the girl child is given bhat for the first time later than a boy child.
Although Annaprashan is a Hidu ritual but such discrimination is observed in case of all religious sections of people in the country. But, the intention of the policymakers to maintain the power strata by binding the hungry people in food security myth has deviated Genetic Engineering from its goal.
The negative representation of genetically modified crops that are produced in Bangladesh has manipulated its social acceptance and has restricted its reach to both the poor farmers and people of low income. Religious ideologies, academic discourse, and media circulation have knitted myths around GMOs and thus have influenced civil society to consider them as inferior to expensive alternatives. This has only strengthened the cultural hegemony of the elite and rich over the commoners and has upheld the interests of the large corporations selling insecticides, pesticides as well as GMO seeds.
Works Cited Ahmed, Akhter U. Impacts of bt brinjal eggplant technology in Bangladesh. Wash- ington, DC: U. New York: The Noonday Press, , pp. Pantheon Books, NY. Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Hall, Stuart, ed. Representation: Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices. Nasiruddin, Khondoker, and Anwar Nasim.
Shelton, et al. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, , pp. The State of Food Insecurity in the World FAO, Rome, Removing politics from innovations that improve food security By J.
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