Bengali ( Bangla ) New Year Celebration & Traditions

 Bengali New Year Celebration : 1420

Pohela Boishakh is undeniably our biggest secular festival. Initially a day marked by businessmen making new ledgers, it was brought into popular culture by Chhayanaut in the 60s. In an effort to suppress Bengali culture, the Pakistani Government had banned poems written by Rabindranath Tagore, the most famous poet and writer in Bengali literature. Protesting this attempt, Chhayanat opened their Poyela Boishakh celebrations at Ramna Park with Tagore's song welcoming the month in 1965. The day continued to be celebrated in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) as a symbol of Bengali culture. After 1972 it became a national festival, a symbol of the Bangladesh nationalist movement and an integral part of the people's cultural heritage. Later, in the mid- 1980s the Institute of Fine Arts added color to the day by initiating the Boishakhi parade, which is much like a carnival parade. In the big metropolitans like Dhaka and Chittagong this day is marked by mass crowd flocking to hundreds of open air concerts and cultural programs, mask rallies etc.People’s participation and acceptance of this festival soon overshadowed the origins of Pohela Boishak but the traditional culture is still with us. Traders in both rural and urban areas start their accounting by initiating a new ledger of the year called ‘Hal Khata’. After the first entry into the book, which was always considered auspicious, the traders would distribute sweets among their fellow traders and valued clients.

                                                       

Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, the renowned grandson of Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar was the 3^rd Mughal Emperor, introduced the Bengali Calendar. In regards of relatively easier tax collection, Akbar-e-Azam changed the practice of agricultural tax collection according to Hijri calendar and ordered an improvement of the calendar because the Hijri calendar, being a lunar calendar- did not agree with the harvest sessions and eventually the farmers faced severe difficulties in paying taxes out of season.

The regal astrologer of Emperor Akbar's reign, Aamir Fatehullah Siraji , was the one who in fact developed this calendar, after working out a research on the lunar Hijri and Solar calendar. The distinctive characteristic of the Bengali year was that, rather than being a lunar calendar, it was based on a union of the solar and lunar year. This was essentially a great promotion, as the solar and lunar years were formulated in very diverse systems.

Primarily this calendar was named as “Fasli San” and then Bongabdo  or Bangla Year was launched on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from 5^th November 1556 or 963 Hijri. This was the day that Akbar defeated Himu in the clash of Panipat- 2 to ascend the throne.

Akbar-e-Azam’s ordered to resolve all dues on the last day of Choitro. The next day was the first day of the New Year (Bengali New Year), the day for a new opening; landlords used to allocate sweets among their tenants, and Businessmen would commence a “Halkhata” (new financial records book) and lock their old ones. Vendors used to provoke their consumers to allocate sweets and renew their business relationship with them. There were fairs and festivities allover and gradually Poyela Boishakh became a day of celebration.

                                                  

The Bengali New Year begins at dawn, and the day is marked with singing, processions, and fairs. Traditionally, businesses start this day with a new ledger, clearing out the old.

People of Bangladesh enjoy National holiday on Pohela Boishakh. all over the country people can enjoy Fairs and festivals .Here singers sing traditional songs welcoming the New Year. Food vendors sell conventional foods and artisans sell traditional handicrafts. People also enjoy traditional jatra plays.

Village dwellers of Bangladesh traditionally clean their housed and people usually dress new clothes up. Like other festivals of the region, the day is also marked by visiting relatives, friends and neighbors. People prepare special dishes for their guests.

The rural festivities have now evolved to become vast events in the cities, especially the capital Dhaka.

In Dhaka and other large cities, the festivals begin with people gathering under a big tree.People also find any bank of a lake or river to witness the sunrise. Artists present songs to welcome the new year, particularly with Rabindranath Tagore's well known song " Esho, he Boishakh" .

People from all spheres of life wear traditional Bengali dresses. Women are used to wearing traditional saris with their hair all bedecked in flowers. Likewise, men prefer to wear traditional Panjabis. A huge part of the festivities in Dhaka is a vivid procession organized by the students and teachers of Institute of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.

In the Hilly parts of Bangladesh, three separate ethnic groups have their individual New Year celebrations. Boisuk [বৈশুখ] of Tripura People, Sangrai  of Marma people and Biju of Chakma people; presently they have come together to celebrate it commonly as Boi-Sa-Bi , a day of a ample diversity of festivities; specially need to mention the water festival  of the Marma people.

Pohela Boishakh is considered to be a lucky time for wedding in Kolkata.Like Bangladesh people of Kolkata also wear new clothes and go about socializing. Choitro, is the month of frantic activities and purchases. Garment traders organize a Choitro sale and sell the garments with profound discounts. This day being auspicious, new businesses and new endeavors are started. The “Mahurat” is performed, marking the commencing of new ventures. Pohela Boishakh is the beginning of all business activities in Bengal.

Nowadays, Pohela Boishakh celebrations also observe a day of cultural unity without distinction between class, race and religious affiliations. Of the major holidays celebrated in Bangladesh and West Bengal, only Pôhela Boishakh comes without any preexisting expectations .Unlike Eid ul-Fitr & Durga Pujo, where dressing up in lavish clothes has become a norm, or Christmas where exchanging gifts has become an essential part of the holiday, Pôhela Boishakh is really about celebrating the simpler, rural roots of the Bengal. Eventually, more people can take part in the festivities together without the load of having to reveal one's class, religion, or financial capacity.