Although ‘LOVE’ is not restricted to a single day, every year people across the globe observe Valentine’s Day to celebrate love and companionship with their partners on 14 February. The day is branded as the most preferred occasion to express love and affection for special ones. Now-a-day the day has been turned into a festival in Bangladesh also.

Valentine’s Day marks the final day following a week-long celebration of Valentine’s Week. It starts with Rose Day followed by Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, and Kiss Day.

Valentine’s Day: Origin and Significance 

There are some myths spiraling around the origin of Valentine’s Day. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the history of Valentine’s Day is linked to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, which used to take place in the mid-February. The festival is celebrated during the onset of the spring season.

In this festival, women used to be paired with men through a lottery. At the end of the 5th century, it is believed that Pope Gelasius-I replaced the celebration with St. Valentine’s Day. However, Valentine’s Day was not marked as the celebration of a day of love until about the 14th century.

On the other hand, some other popular legends suggest that the day is named after St. Valentine of Terni, who was a Bishop. While another legend suggests that it got its name from the priest Valentine.

It states that he once sent a letter to his jailer’s daughter whom he had befriended and signed the letter as “from your Valentine”. He was martyred at around 270 CE by emperor Claudius II Gothicus.

According to another story, disobeying the king’s orders, St. Valentine secretly married off several couples on this day to save the husbands from war. The day was eventually associated with love and companionship.

Following the same, the practice of sending messages appeared in the 1500s and by the late 1700s, the commercially printed cards were also accessible. However, now the gifts include toys, chocolates, flowers, and traditional letters as well.

Valentine’s Day is popularly symbolised by the Roman god of love, Cupid. According to Roman mythology, Cupid is the son of Venus, and his bow and arrow piercing a heart depicts love. Therefore, Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating the feeling of being in love, source : moneycontrol.

Valentine’s Day celebration in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, Valentine’s Day has been popular since 1980s despite being celebrated since 498 AD all over the world. On the day, especially youngs, people exchange various greeting cards, flowers, chocolates and gifts. However, despite being very widespread, the country’s conservative society views the celebration of the day is un-Islamic and thus discourages the celebration by young boys and girls.

To mark the day, florists across the country spend busy time as flower sales marked a sharp rise on the advent of Valentine’s Day. The demand for red roses, a widely accepted symbol of love, centering the celebrations.

Apart from the floral shops ramping up their supplies, many vendors set up temporary flower shops on roadsides in the capital and other cities across the country on the occasion. Florists in the capital stockpiled flowers of different varieties, including rose, gerbera, gladiolus, tuberose, and marigold, eyeing a spike in sales on the festival.

Talking to the Daily Sun, university student Santa Binte Farid said, “I have come to Shahbag early in the morning to buy some fresh flowers for my beloved one. We will celebrate the day together. Our love is not limited to a single day but we do not want to let the occasion go in vain.”

Abu Zaifa, a private employee, said that giving flowers to a special one is the symbol of uttering love and affection. We hardly express love to our special ones on normal days. But during any occasion, I would like to show my love to my beloved one (wife).”