The prolonged tunes of Bhawaiya songs impressed a large audience at the Liberation War museum on Saturday.
Bhawaiya Ongon, Dhaka organised the seventh Bhawaiya Festival as the organisation stepped into its ninth year.
A number of Bhawaiya singers from the capital and the northern part of the country presented songs from this traditional music genre to entertain the audience.
The programme commenced with a group song, composed the members of Bhawaiya Ongon, an organisation with the objective to preserve and promote Bhawaiya music.
The audience was stunned to hear a six-year girl Tilottoma Biswas from Panchagarh singing so melodiously. Tilottoma presented two popular numbers-Mui naiyor ar na jamu tor garite and O mor biyani na khawailen sadher pelkani.
Another singer from Kurigram, Nur Mohammad presented Dur hote dekhom torere and Dhire bolao garire garial. His numbers impressed the audience and duly got appreciation.
Another acclaimed presentation was by Mustafizur Rahman, who presented one of the most famous bhawaiya songs- O ki bondhu kajol bhromorare.
Students of Bulbul Lalitakala Academy staged a song with group dance recital.
‘Our organisation, with its two branches in Dhaka and Rangpur, is dedicated to preserve, promote and conduct research on Bhawaiya,’ AKM Mustafizur Rahman, founder and executive director of Bhawaiya Ongon told New Age.
One delighted audience Sabbir Reza said, ‘The programme was quite good. But it could be organised in a bigger venue.’
Md Mahfuzur Rahman, secretary of the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad secretariat, was present at the programme as the chief guest. He told New Age, ‘I was born in Rangpur. I love bhawaiya, and would like to do as much as I can to help Bhawaiya Ongon fulfill its objective.’
-With New Age input
