Institute of Fine Arts (University of Dhaka) is also held a similar ceremony welcoming the New Year. Here “Esho” means come and “he Boishakh” means new year.
After the sunshine people gather under the banyan tree at Ramna Park where Chhayanat artists open the day with Rabindranath Tagore's famous song, ” Esho, he Boishakh, Esho Esho”. Early in the morning, large number of people gathers under a big tree or on the bank of a lake to witness the sunrise. The most colorful New Year's Day festival takes place in Dhaka. Observance of Pohela Boishakh has become popular in the cities. Kite flying in Dhaka and bull racing in Munshiganj used to be very colorful events of Pohela Boishakh. Among other attractions of Boishakhi fairs are puppet shows and merry-go-rounds. Narrative plays like Laila-Majnu, Yusuf-Zulekha and Radha-Krishna are staged. They present folk songs as well as baul, bhatiali, murshidi and marfati songs. Jatra (traditional plays), pala gan, jarigan, sarigan, kobigan, gazir gan, alkap gan and gambhira gan are also entertained in this fair. The fairs also provide entertainment, with cockfights, bull races, horse races, bullfights, boat racing and flying pigeons. Traditional handicrafts, cosmetics, agricultural products, toys, as well as various kinds of food and sweets are sold at these fairs.
This is one rural festival that has become enormously big in the cities, especially in Dhaka and Chittagong.īoishakhi fairs are arranged in many parts of the country. Many townspeople start the day with the traditional breakfast of “Panta Bhat” (rice soaked in water), green chilies, onion, and fried Hilsa fish. Special foods are prepared to entertain guests. They spend much of the day visiting relatives, friends, and neighbors and going to fair. Most of women and girls wear “Sari”, which color is mixed up with red and white and adorn themselves with Churi, Ful and Tip and most of the man and boys wear “Panjabi”, Pajama, Lungi, Dhuti and Kurta, which color is also mixed up with red and white. Usually on Pohela Boishakh, people bath early in the morning and dress in fine clothes.
Pohela Boishakh marks the start day of the agricultural season. The main event of the day was to open a new book of accounts or fresh accounts. On the next day of the New Year (Pohela Boishakh), landlords would entertain their tenants with sweets. It was customary to clear up all dues on the last day of the Bengali Year (last day of Choitro). Celebrations of Pohela Boishakh started from Akbar's reign (1556). Then the New Year became known as “Bangla Year”, which generally known as “Bonggabdo”. The new agricultural year was first introduced on 10th or 11th March 1584, but it was dated from Akbar's ascension to the throne in 1556. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar.Īccording to the Fatehullah Shirazi (A renowned scholar and astronomer), formulated the Bengali year on the basis of the Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. For this reason, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. The Hijri calendar is a purely lunar calendar but it does not coincide with the harvest. Under the Mughals, all agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. The first day of the Bengali year therefore coincides with the mid-April New Year in Sri Lanka, Assam, Manipur, Burma, Cambodia, Kerala, Nepal, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Mithila and Thailand. As with many other variants of the Hindu solar calendar, the Bengali calendar commences in mid-April of the Gregorian year. The Bengali calendar is based on the Surya Siddhanta and it is closely tied with the Hindu Vedic solar calendar. Here “Nobo” means new and “Borso” means year. New Year or Pohela Boishakh is generally known as “Nobo-borso”. According to the official amended calendar designed by the Bangla Academy, Pohela Boishakh is usually celebrated on the 14th April. In Bangladesh, it is a national holiday and in India, West Bengal and Assam it is a public (state) holiday. It connects all ethnic Bengalis irrespective of religious and regional differences.
It coincides with the Bengali New Year's Days of numerous Southern Asian calendars. It is celebrated in Bangladesh, west Bengal, Assam, Tripura and also the whole world. Pohela Boishakh is the first day of Bengali New Year.