The culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

 of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

is an Indian Culture

Culture of India

India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality....

 which has its roots in the Bengali literature

Bengali literature

Bengali literature is literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and the Indian provinces of West Bengal and Tripura. The history of Bengali literature traces back hundreds of years while it is impossible to separate the literary trends of the two Bengals during the...

, music, fine arts, drama and cinema

Cinema of West Bengal

The cinema of West Bengal refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932...

. People of West Bengal share their cultural heritage with the neighbouring Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 (erstwhile known as East Bengal

East Bengal

East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....

). West Bengal has a long tradition of popular literature, music and drama largely based on Bengali folklore and Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 epics and Puranas

Puranas

The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

. This culture evolved during the last millennium. During the 19th century, Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

 (erstwhile Calcutta), the modern capital of West Bengal, was the centre place of the cultural rejuvenation movement known as the Bengal Renaissance

Bengal Renaissance

The Bengal Renaissance refers to a social reform movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the region of Bengal in Undivided India during the period of British rule...

 as well as the Hindu reform movements

Hindu reform movements

Several contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism. Although these movements are very individual in their exact philosophies they generally stress the spiritual, secular and logical and scientific aspects of the Vedic...

. In the early 20th century, Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

, the first Nobel laureate from Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 became the most important figure of Bengali culture. At the same time, cinema

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 became one of the integral part of this culture.

The Indian

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 state of West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

 was created in 1947 after the partition of India

Partition of India

The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...

. Rabindanath Tagore’s influence remained intact in this state till today. In the 1950’s, the Cinema of West Bengal

Cinema of West Bengal

The cinema of West Bengal refers to the Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge and Hollywood, dates back to 1932...

 gained a new height with the arrival of some internationally acclaimed film directors like Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...

, Mrinal Sen

Mrinal Sen

Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...

 and Ritwik Ghatak.

Religion, specially Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

, the principal religion at 72.5% of the total population, plays a vital role in the culture of West Bengal. Durga Puja

Durga Puja

Durga puja ; দুর্গা পূজা,ଦୁର୍ଗା ପୂଜା,‘Worship of Durga’), also referred to as Durgotsava ; , is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and...

, a five-day annual autumnal celebration of Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

 Durga

Durga

For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...

’s victory over Mahishasura

Mahishasura

In Hindu mythology, Mahishasura was an asura.Mahishasura's father Rambha was king of the asuras, and he once fell in love with a water buffalo ; Mahishasura was born out of this union...

, a Minotaur

Minotaur

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...

-like demon, is the biggest festival of the state. The Festival of Kali

Kali Puja

Kali Puja or Shyama Puja is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu month Ashwin in Bengal. It coincides with the pan-Indian Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali...

, the guardian deity of Bengal, is also celebrated with great enthusiasm. Other important festivals include the seasonal festivals introduced by Rabindranath Tagore, book fairs, film and drama festivals and traditional village fairs etc.

West Bengal is home to two of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Sundarban National Park and Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a narrow gauge railway from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways....

).

Literature

The Bengali language

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

 boasts a rich literary heritage, shared with neighbouring Bangladesh. West Bengal has a long tradition in folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada

Charyapada

The Charyapada is a collection of 8th-12th century Vajrayana Buddhist caryagiti, or mystical poems from the tantric tradition in eastern India. Being caryagiti , the Charyapada were intended to be sung. These songs of realization were spontaneously composed verses that expressed a practitioner's...

, Mangalkavya, Shreekrishna Kirtana

Shreekrishna Kirtana

Shreekrishna Kirtana Kabya or Sri Krishna Kirtana Kabya is a pastoral Vaishnava drama in verse composed by Boru Chandidas. It is considered to be the most significant work after Charyapada in the history of Bengali literature...

, Thakurmar Jhuli

Thakurmar Jhuli

Thakurmar Jhuli is a collection of Bengali folk tales and fairy tales. Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumder was the person who first collected some folk-stories of Bengal and published it under the name of Thakurmar Jhuli in 1907 . The Nobel-Laureate, Rabindra Nath Thakur wrote the introduction to the...

, and stories related to Gopal Bhar

Gopal Bhar

Gopal Bhar or Gopal Bhand was a legendary court jester in medieval Bengal. He was in the court of Raja Krishnachandra, the famous king of Nadia in the 18th century AD. Such was the genius of Gopal that the king considered him as a Navaratna of his court...

. In the nineteenth and twentieth
century, Bengali literature

Bengali literature

Bengali literature is literary works written in Bengali language particularly from Bangladesh and the Indian provinces of West Bengal and Tripura. The history of Bengali literature traces back hundreds of years while it is impossible to separate the literary trends of the two Bengals during the...

 was modernized in the works of authors such as Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was a famous Bengali writer, poet and journalist. He was the composer of India’s national song Vande Mataram, originally a Bengali and Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Freedom Movement...

, Michael Madhusudan Dutt

Michael Madhusudan Dutt

Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Michael Madhusudan Dutta was a popular 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagardari , on the bank of Kopotaksho [কপোতাক্ষ] River, a village in Keshobpur Upozila, Jessore District, East Bengal . His father was Rajnarayan Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and...

, Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

, Kazi Nazrul Islam

Kazi Nazrul Islam

Kazi Nazrul Islam , sobriquet Bidrohi Kobi, was a Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary who pioneered poetic works espousing intense spiritual rebellion against fascism and oppression. His poetry and nationalist activism earned him the popular title of Bidrohi Kobi...

, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay is one of the most popular Bengali novelists and short story writers of early 20th century.- Background and writing :Sarat Chandra was born into poverty in Debanandapur, Hooghly, India...

, Jibananda Das and Manik Bandyopadhyay. In modern times Jibanananda Das

Jibanananda Das

Jibanananda Das was a noted Bengali poet. He is considered one of the precursors who introduced modernist poetry to Bengali Literature, at a period when it was influenced by Rabindranath Tagore's Romantic poetry....

, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay was one of the most famous Bengali novelist and writer of modern Bengali literature...

, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay

Tarashankar Bandopadhyay

Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay was one of the leading Bengali novelists. He wrote 65 novels, 53 story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies and 2 travel stories...

, Manik Bandopadhyay

Manik Bandopadhyay

Manik Bandopadhyay ; ; was an Indian Bengali novelist and is considered one of the leading lights of modern Bangla fiction. During a short lifespan of forty-eight years, plagued simultaneously by illness and financial crisis, he produced 36 novels and 177 short-stories...

, Ashapurna Devi, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay is a Bengali author who writes Bengali books. He has written stories for both adults and children.-Life:Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay was born in Bikrampur , now in Bangladesh. He spent his childhood in Bihar and many places in Bengal and Assam accompanying his father, who worked...

, Buddhadeb Guha

Buddhadeb Guha

Buddhadeb Guha is a popular Bengali fiction writer. He studied at the well-known St Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta....

, Mahashweta Devi, Samaresh Majumdar

Samaresh Majumdar

Samaresh Majumdar is a well known contemporary Bengali writer. He spent his childhood years in the tea gardens of Duars, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India. He was a student of the Jalpaiguri Zilla School, Jalpaiguri. He completed his bachelors in Bengali from Scottish Church College, Kolkata. His...

, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay

Sanjeev Chattopadhyay

Sanjeev Chattopadhyay is a fiction writer. His style is characterized by use of short satirical sentences mixed with very lively language.-Childhood and education:...

 and Sunil Gangopadhyay

Sunil Gangopadhyay

Sunil Gangopadhyay , is a celebrated Indian poet and novelist.-Early life:...

 among others are well known.

Cloth

Cloth in West Bengal are very advantage tradition in India.In the urban area,men wear shirt and pant,some wear jeans and T-shirt and women wear sari and half blouse or jeans also after marriage and before marriage girls use top,jeans and tight T-shirt in urban area and also some rural areas.In the rural area(in village) men use shirt,T-shirl and pant or lungi and women use sari and before marriage frock,jeans,top,pant.Girls in West Bengal do not use orna(a thin and long cloth) in urban and rural area.Some girls use orna but in her neck like a fashion.Bengali girls totally copy fashion from western culture.

Events

• Durga Puja
• Bengali New Years Day
  New Year
  The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....
  
  
• Basanta-Utsab
  Holi
  Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United...
  
  
• Saraswati Puja

Music

• Rabindra Sangeet
  Rabindra Sangeet
  Rabindra Sangeet , also known as Tagore Songs in English, is a form of music composed by Rabindranath Tagore who added a new dimension to the musical concept of India in general and Bengal in specific....
  
  
• Nazrul Geeti
• Adhunik
• Shyamasangeet
• Jibonmukhi
• Bangla band
  Bangla band
  A Bangla band is any musical band that performs solely or mainly in the Bengali language and which uses Western principles of music.As Western influences became more widespread, Bangla bands became popular with young people in the 1970s, both in India and Bangladesh, and have since become...
  
  
• Flock song
• Bengali Rock song

Dance

• Gaudiya Nritya
  Gaudiya Nritya
  Gaudiya Nritya is a Bengali school of Indian classical dance. Originating in Gaur, West Bengal, the ancient capital of the region, it is an all-pervasive form which eventually gave rise to present-day Odissi, Manipuri and Kuchipudi and contributed to the development of many classical dance forms.-...
  
  
• Rabindra Nritya
  Rabindra Nritya Natya
  Rabindra nritya natya is the term given to the three dance-dramas composed by Bengal's poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore: Chitrangada, Chandalika and Shyama. The principal characteristic of these works is that the story is told entirely through dance and song. The dances included in them were in...
  
  
• Adhunik Nritya