- Sujal Pradhan, NET Correspondent, Sikkim
The Sikkim Chief Minister – Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) asserted that ‘Baisakhi Parva 2022’ aims to foster the spirit of communal harmony and bring unity among various communities.
Addressing the state-level ‘Baisakhi Parva 2022’ at Manan Bhawan, Tamang stated “we celebrate the western new year with great pomp and circumstance, but this is not the case with the ‘Baishakhi Parva.’ It reflects the loss of our culture, hence the Nepali Sahitya Parisad should commemorate the festival in a great manner beginning next year, with the goal of preserving our culture.”
Organized by the Nepali Sahitya Parishad, this event witnessed traditional dances of Lepcha, Bhutia, Nepali along with band performances by Sikkim Police.
Nepalese people use their own calendar called the ‘Bikram Era’ or ‘Bikram Sambat.’ In Nepali, the New Year is known as Nava Varsha, and is usually observed during the second week of April.
Picnics, get-togethers, and other forms of socialisation are used to commemorate the day. The solar Gregorian calendar is 56.7 years behind Bikram Sambat. It employs lunar months beginning in mid-April with Baisakh. In a nutshell, this day marks the start of the natural process.
“Last year, I stated and even issued a notice that students in colleges and schools must wear their own traditional dresses once a month, but it was criticised as an additional burden on parents. However, we must do this for the preservation of culture and tradition, and we will try to make some budgetary provision so that we can arrange traditional dresses. If we fail to initiate the measure, our next generation will forget our culture and traditions,” – the CM further added.
