Which Bengal region has a stronger Bengali cultural heritage: Bangladesh or West Bengal?

I hate how people from both sides of the border eventually turn everything into a Hindu vs Muslim competition. Until and unless you separate faith from ethnicity, you will never have a separate Bengali identity. Faith is a matter of personal choice. While there is a huge body of religious and devotional literature from both Bengali Hindus and Bengali Muslims, we also have a secular side to ourselves too. There are some things uniquely Bengali. Our songs and literature are filled with what we share in common. Rivers and paddy fields are at the heart of our culture. We gain our sustenance from here. The proverb goes - 'Rice and fish makes a Bengali'. Our cuisine is common. Over the centuries we have innovated, assimilated and developed a rich culinary heritage. Our clothes, except for religious ceremonies are common. Our women wear both saree and salwar kameez. Muslin is our shared heritage. Our folk songs like Bhatiali, Bhawaia, Jari, Sari, Jatragan, Kobigan and others talk about the everyday lives and the shared history of our people. A large body of Tagore Songs or Nazrul Songs have a secular side to it. Pohela Boishakh is our shared heritage. I could go on and on. So does it really matter which side of the border has a richer heritage, as long as it speaks to every Bengali irrespective of religion? West Bengal was at the heart of the Bengal Renaissance but it produced some great writers from East Bengal too. After the war in '71, Bangladesh has produced tonnes of novels, poems, stories, essays, paintings and songs centred around the war. Our literature speaks about an independent country with problems and aspirations of it's own. In fact, in this part of Bengal, the Bengali Language is alive like a galloping horse. Apart from our dynamic literature; our pop songs, tv shows, telefilms, Eid Natoks are Bengali dominated. Our movies are slowly but steadily rising. It is difficult for us to become Bollywood but who says we have to be Bollywood? It is still at a premature level but we will curve out an identity of our own.  In the next 100 years, the language has a greater chance of survival in Bangladesh than West Bengal. India is dominated by too much Hindi and English. Not that it's something bad but it will have an adverse effect on your mother tongue. Bengali in West Bengal might evolve into something like Urdu. The people of West Bengal will continue to have a rich culture but perhaps that would be in a very new and different language. None of us speak Sanskrit anymore, do we?

East Bengal used to be a rural agrarian region of Bengal. All Bengali elites used to live around Kolkata. So the Bengali literature flourished in Western part of Bengal. Eastern part of Bengal was full of rivers and fertile lands for cultivation. Industries were in western Bengal and raw materials of these industries came from eastern Bengal. East Bengali Muslims were very religious. They emphasized more on religious education in madrasas rather than contemporary mainstream education. Bengali Hindus from western part saw cultural revolution around Kolkata. Eastern part lagged far behind in comparison but it doesn't mean Eastern Bengal aka Bangladesh is less in literature. It has Humayun Ahmed, Mohd. Jafar Iqbal, Anisul Houque to name a few but these people apart from Humayun Ahmed aren't that well known in West Bengal. Bengalis of West Bengal have very little knowledge about Bangladeshi literature and culture because its not promoted in West Bengal. Bangladeshi TV channels are unofficially banned, no Bangladeshi magazine papers are seen in newspaper stores but West Bengali TV channels, magazines are widely available and very popular in Bangladesh.

u put  it opposite actually tagore family root from present bangladesh kustia jossore and his wife was from khulna mean while nazrul was from bardawan west bengal and his wife was also from west bengal

I think this is a stupid question Like Tanveer Reza Sohan said: Both BB and IB woman wear same dress Both BB and IB are quite proud of their culture but i think we are more bengai orinieted since West Bengal is in india Which is hindi and urdu dominated Btw you should know both of us allergic and hatred towards pakistan Not to mentoin our foods are also same I think maybe BB are more religiou but dosent matter Sri lankans are also more religious than indians in general its not do with being muslims Lastly who has richer culture does it really matter West Bengal was once heart of india but it collapsed. Bangladesh after 1971 started producing more good artists technicians and stuff i dont think IBs look down on BB btw they provided refuges 10 milion bengalis who fled to them like brothers

First thing i want to say that it’s really a silly question.People living in West Bengal and Bangladesh,we all are Bengali…ya it’s right that Rabindranath Tagore,Kazi Nazrul Islam….they were born in West Bengal…at the same time there are many famous personality who are from East Bengal.For instance,Lalon Shah,Hason Raja,Jibanand Das,Madhushudan Dutt,Atul Prasad Sen,Pramath Chowdhury,Shukumar Roy,Suneil Gangopadhya,Zashim Uddin,Chandra Kumar De,Dinesh Chandra Sen etc….they are from East Bengal.Folk Ballads collection which is called “Mymensingh Geetika”…it’s origin is from East Bengal.Very famous and popular folk singer “Abbas Uddin” is from East Bengal.Bhatiali’s(folk song) origin is from Mymensingh.Dhamali’s(folk song) origin is from Sylhet,Gombhira’s(folk song) origin is from Chapai Nawabganj.it is not important that from which region of Bengal these songs originated…this is important that these songs are sung on both region.these are both region’s culture.It doesn’t make any difference that from which part bengali famous people are…it would be silly if anyone answer this ques on the basis of their origin i mean from which region they came from….The main thing is what they have done,for that we all Bengali are proud.They have written for the whole Bengali nation…Their writtings,various folk songs etc make both region’s Bengali culture rich…So both region’s Bengali Culture is equally strong……

As I addressed in a similar question. The cities of modern day Bangladesh such as Dhaka and Chittagong, are business cities. Before the separation of the Bengal regions, Kolkata was the main cultural city. It is a huge bustling metropolitan and the center of cultural diffusion during the height of European involvement in India. It was almost as if it was decided for Kolkata to be the main place for artists, poets and musicians since it attracted them so much. The areas of modern day Bangladesh were small simple cities, where the British, French and Portuguese mainly did trade and missionary work. Art and culture was not really the main focus.Plus, how were the people a hundred years ago supposed to know that Bengal was to become divided? When Bangladesh was formed it was an awkward situation. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t use the culture of the people if their same race. Bengali people at the end of the day are Bengalis and they can use works of whatever poet or artist of they want why do you care?Plus, Bangladesh is home to some great architecture, take a walk in Old Dhaka and you will see a completely different city. Even though many buildings over the years decayed, they are still standing nice and beautiful: Me in front of Lalbagh Fort, Dhaka

The cultural heritage is stronger in West Bengal as per my opinion. I can comment on this because my father is from West Bengal and my mother's family had come shifted from Bangladesh to West Bengal during partition. Both are Hindu families believing in the same Gods and culture, however, the value of heritage is stronger in the West Bengal side. I have visited Bangladesh as a kid and the people do not even seem familiar to me. The Bengali accent is very different from the one that I am used to listening in West Bengal and there is a high Islam effect in Bangladesh as well. If we consider food and clothes, then pretty much food habits and clothing habits are same. The teachings of Bengali culture and heritage is more predominant in West Bengal than in Bangladesh as well.