One of the most culturally prosperous faiths of India, Bengalis are filled with surprises. They are believed to have the most rich culture because of their unique practices and religious beliefs. Bengalis, also rendered as Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistics native to the Bengal region in South Asia.

The population is divided between the region of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam’s Bank Valley. Most of them speak Bengali, a language from the Indo-Aryan language family. The term “Bangalee” is also used to denote people of Bangladesh (Bengal was a part of Bangladesh before the partition) as a nation.

CUISINE

Bengali cuisine is the culinary style originating in Bengal, a region of the Indian subcontinent which is now located in Bangladesh and West Bengal. With an emphasis on fish, vegetables, and milk served with rice as a staple diet, Bengali cuisine is known for its subtle flavours, and its huge spread of confectioneries and desserts.

FESTIVALS

The Bengalis are divided into four religious subgroups: Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians and Bengali Buddhists.

Bengalis celebrate the major holidays of the Hindu and Muslims faiths. Although Bengali Hindus observe Holi, Diwali and other important religious festivals, Durga Puja is biggest and most important to them. Dedicated to the goddess Durga, who is a manifestation of Shakti, the festivities last for five days.

Months before the festival, special clay idols of Durga and her children are made. These show her mounted on a lion and killing the evil demon Mahishasura. These lavishly painted and decorated idols are displayed and worshipped on each day of the festival in the pandals and at homes. On the tenth day, the idols are decorated with flowers and carried through the streets in processions. The procession makes its way to a river or other body of water, where the idols of Durga are immersed in the water. For Muslims, the festivals include Eid-ul-Zuha, Eid-ul-Fitr, and Muharram.

LANGUAGE

Bengali or Bangla is the language native to the region of Bengal, which comprises present-day Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and southern Assam. It is written using the Bengali script. With about 170 million native and about 210 million total speakers worldwide, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages, ranked seventh in the world.

The National Anthem of Bangladesh, National Anthem of India and the National Song of India were first composed in the Bengali language.

Bengali people may be broadly classified into sub-groups predominantly based on language but also other aspects of culture:

Bangals: This is a term used predominantly in Indian West Bengal to refer to East Bengalis – i.e. Bangladesh is as well as those whose ancestors originate from Eastern Bengal. The East Bengali dialects are known as Bangali. This group constitutes the majority of ethnic Bengalis.

Ghotis: This is the term favoured by the natives of West Bengal to distinguish themselves from other Bengalis.

Sylhetis: They speak Sylheti and are native to the Sylhet region of Bangladesh and India. They maintain a distinct identity separate from or in addition to having a Bengali identity.[62][63]

Chittagonians: Natives of the Chittagong region of Bangladesh. They speak in the Chittagonian language, locally called 'Chatgaiya', and follow a distinct culture.

PERFORMING ARTS

Bengali theatre traces its roots to Sanskrit drama under the Gupta Empire in the 4th century CE. It includes narrative forms, song and dance forms, supra-personae forms, performance with scroll paintings, puppet theatre and the processional forms like the Jatra.

Bengal has an extremely rich heritage of dancing dating back to antiquity. It includes classical, folk and martial dance traditions.

ARTS AND SCIENCE 

The Bengali contributions to modern science is path breaking in the world's context. Renowned Indian physicist Satyendranath Bose first calculations to initiate Statistical Mechanics. He first hypothesised, a physically tangibleidea of photon.

Meghnad Saha contributed to the theorisation of Thermal Ionization.

Jagadish Chandra Bose practicalised the wireless radio transmission.

But Marconi got recognition for European proximity. He also described for the first time, Plants can respond, by demonstrating with his crescograph, recording the impulse caused by bromination of plant tissue.

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT BENGALIS

Squeeze a Bengali's favourite rosogolla a little and the sugar syrup will drip away. Mingle with Bengali people and you will understand why the Bengali language has been voted as the sweetest language in the world by UNESCO. As a matter of fact, our craving for sweets seems to have made the language we speak rich and delectable.

Of course, we cannot ignore the grand poets Bankim and Rabindranath for their humungous contributions in Bengali literature. 

Let us put it this way. What cricket is to India, Football is to Bengalis. Be it any Football league at any corner of the world, you won't find a Bengali ever who has no idea about the team and the facts of the league.

The football fever in Bengalis is actually quite ancient, right from having the oldest football club in India (Mohun Bagan) to Saurav Ganguly pitching Athletico de Kolkata with a bang! If you are a football fan too, then your Bengali friend is just the commentator you need. 

No one runs out of first names, but people tend to run out of pet names for your kid. Bengalis seem to have a treasure island of pet names hidden somewhere in Kolkata. From the most generic babu to the 'never before I heard' names such as Bolai, Mento, Tukai, Lalji, Kutki, Tinku, Gora, Tutun, Dadan, Shanku, and many more. So if you are out of names for your kid, try consulting your Bengali friend. 

This one dance proves how awesome Bengalis are. Only they know how to balance three smoking dhunuchis and dance on the rhythm of dhol in front of the idol of Devi Durga. We bet very few other people can actually pull that off. The dance continues, so does the dhunuchis keep on blazing smokes from burnt coconut barks. Don't miss out this crazy yet beautiful Bengali tradition at the upcoming Durga Puja.

If you are stuck with your Mathematics homework on Laplace or need immediate assistance to understand the philosophy of Engler, then your Bengali friend is just the person you need. They are always passionate about learning and have some of the most intellectual minds in India and abroad too. Politics, Science, Philosophy, Arts, and even complex Astronomy seems to be the favourite discussion topic of any Bengali. 

And that's all from your Bangalee friend,
TeenShimmerStar