Preparation work for making the Mongol Shobhajatra (procession of good wishes) successful was inaugurated in Fine Arts faculty premises in Dhaka University (DU) campus on Thursday.

Veteran artist Rafiqun Nabi inaugurated this year’s activity by painting on a canvas near Zainul Gallery in the DU campus at 12:15pm, reports the UNB.

Convener of the procession and dean of the Fine Arts faculty Professor Nisar Hossain and chairman of the department of Drawing and Painting Professor Shishir Bhattacharya were also present in the opening programme.

This year’s preparation works including making of paintings, replicas and masks is organised by the Fine Arts faculty and supervised by the students of the 20th batch of faculty.

Later, these works will be exhibited for sale to raise the fund for bringing out the procession.

Every year on April 14 (Pahela Boishakh), students of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University bring out the Mongol Shovajatra which got recognition from UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

The rally usually is brought out as the part of the celebration of the first day of Bangla calendar, led by the DU vice-chancellor, in the morning with different themes in the traditional manner.

The celebrations of Pahela Baishakh have become an integral part of Bangalee since it’s beginning over six centuries back.

Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar in 1556 of the Gregorian calendar in a bid to streamline the timing of land tax collection in the then ‘Subah Bangla’ region, the much of which falls under Bangladesh. The day is a public holiday.

Mongol Shovajatra features large colourful masks, various animal-shaped carnival floats, and replicas of birds, butterflies, charka, traditional dolls and other motifs of Bangladeshi culture.

Charupath, a Jessore-based cultural organisation, organised Mongol Shovajatra for the first time.

The decision of inscribing Mongol Shovajatra on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was taken on November 30, 2016, at the 11th session of the intergovernmental committee on intangible cultural heritage, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.