In the first light of sunrise, flowers drift gently on the Sangu River as the Chakma and Tanchangya communities in Bandarban has begun celebrations to welcome the new year, marking a centuries-old ritual of faith and renewal.
The ceremony is observed annually the day before the new year and known as “Phool Biju” among the communities.
Dawn had yet to fully break over the hills when Borsha Tanchangya, an eighth-grade student of Bandarban Government Girls' High School, reached the riverbank, flowers in one hand and her three-year-old brother in the other, to offer her floral prayers.
Like her, hundreds of Chakma and Tanchangya men, women and children gathered along the riverbanks before the sunrise, preparing to perform the ritual that marks the final day of the old year.
As the sun slowly rose, its first rays pierced the soft mist draped over the hills and fell upon the waters of the Sangu.
In that early light, colourful flowers began to float across the river’s surface, accompanied by flickering candle flames.
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Photo: Mong Sing Hai Marma/Star
The scene unfolded as a confluence of nature, faith and culture, as the hill communities marked the transition into a new year.
Binoti Tanchangya, Ujjal Tanchangya, Suphal Chakma and Suchitra Tanchangya, who took part in the offerings, said the observance of the last day of the passing year has been passed down through generations.
Floating flowers on the river, they said, is an ancient act of worship symbolising the washing away of sins, sorrows and impurities of the past year while inviting the new.
They added that prayers are offered to the river’s guardian deity, Gangadevi, through which devotees acknowledge both known and unknown mistakes and seek forgiveness.
The ritual, they noted, extends beyond religion, carrying a deeper message of social harmony and self-purification.
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Photo: Mong Sing Hai Marma/Star
From early morning, crowds streamed towards the river ghats. People of all ages arrived with their families, some carrying baskets of flowers, others bringing banana leaves, candles and incense sticks.
At the ghat, participants carefully arranged flowers on banana leaves, lit candles and incense, and set their offerings afloat, praying silently for the currents to carry away grief, sin and discord from the passing year.
The moment the offerings touched the water was marked by quiet intensity. Drifting flowers and candlelight merged on the river’s surface, creating an ethereal atmosphere, while many faces reflected a sense of calm, as though burdens of the past were dissolving into the flow.
The ceremony is regarded not merely as a festival but as a social covenant of self-purification, forgiveness and the renewal of communal bonds.
