User:Babyali sylhet/sandbox

A Faan Dan, platter of Betel Leaf (Faan) in Sylheti (Paan) in Bengali / Urdu / Hindi and Areca nut (Gwa) in Sylheti (Shupari) in Bengali (Supari) in Urdu / Hindi. The platter is served with different spices and flavors. The most common flavors served in a Sylheti household are tobacco (Zarda or Zorda) which can be found in sweet flavor as well alongside with Calcium Hydroxide (Soon) in Sylhet i (Chun) in Bengali (Chuna) in Urdu / Hindi.

Chewing Faan Gwa requires the combination of Areca Nut and Betel leaf mixed with spices and flavors as optional. It is also widely used in Sylheti wedding events, especially the engagement ceremony known as sinifaan which’s meaning is Sweet Betel or literal meaning as Sugar Betel. In the event both sides of the family decorate Taal’s (Platters) in a different, unique, eye catching way and serve it to the guests.

Based on archaeological, linguistic and botanical evidence, the spread of betel chewing is most strongly associated with the Austronesian people. Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years from India to the Pacific. Ibn Battuta describes this practice as follows “The betel is a tree which is cultivated in the same manner as the grape-vine”. The betel has no fruit and is grown only for the sake of its leaves. The manner of its use is that before eating it one takes areca nut, this is like a nutmeg but is broken up until it is reduced to small pellets, and one places these in his mouth and chews them. Then he takes the leaves of betel, puts a little chalk on them, and masticates them along with the betel. Since the introduction of tobacco from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere, it has been an optional addition to Betel Leaf.