Pohela Boishakh 2024 | Bengali New Year 2024 Wishes,Quotes, Images, Greetings, Songs, Status, Pictures:
Pohela Boishakh is the first day of the Bengali calendar which is also the official calendar of Bangladesh. This festival is celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam (Barak Valley) by Bengalis regardless of religious faith.
Bengalis of India have historically celebrated Pohela Boishakh, and it is an official regional holiday in its states of West Bengal and Tripura. The day is also called Nabo Barsho.
The celebration of Bengali new year Pahela Baishakh begins at dawn arranges by the cultural organisation Chhayanaut welcoming the year at Ramna Batamul under the banyan tree in the Ramna Park in Bangladesh.
Celebration of Pohela Boishakh traces its roots to the traditions of Old Dhaka’s Muslim community during Mughal rule, as well as the proclamation of tax collection reforms of Akbar.
On this occasion, males are seen wearing red or white Kurta with traditional designs on them, imprinted or embroidered. Women and young ladies wear red and white saree with blouses and put on flower crowns on their heads. Girls also dress in salwar kameez. They are seen wearing traditional ornaments and accessories along with their dresses. It is thought that it is because the traditional ledgers used in Haal Khata had a red cover with white pages.
The festival is celebrated with processions, fairs and family time. The traditional greeting for Bengalis in the new year is শুভ নববর্ষ which is literally “Happy New Year”. The festive Mangal Shobhajatra is organised in Bangladesh. In 2016, the UNESCO declared this festivity organised by the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka as a cultural heritage of humanity.
In recent times, claiming it to be traditional, Bengalis eat Panta Bhat or poitabhat, which is a rice-based dish prepared by soaking rice, generally leftovers, in water overnight. It is popularly eaten with Hilsa Fish and other curries.But many argue that it is not an age-old tradition and merely a trend. To stop overfishing and to repopulate the dwindling Hilsa population, around this time, fishing is banned.
Pohela Boisakh has been the traditional New Year festival in the state, with the new year referred to as the Noboborsho. The festival falls on 14 or 15 April, as West Bengal follows its traditional Bengali calendar, which adjusts for solar cycle differently than the one used in Bangladesh where the festival falls on 14 April.
Notable events of West Bengal include the early morning cultural processions called Prabhat Pheri. These processions see dance troupes and children dressed up with floats, displaying their performance arts to songs of Rabindranath Tagore.
Pohela Boishakh is a state holiday in Tripura. People wear new clothes and start the day by praying at the temples for a prosperous year. The day marks the traditional accounting new year for merchants.Festive foods such as confectionery and sweets are purchased and distributed as gifts to friends and family members.
The festival is also observed by the Bengali communities in other eastern states such as Assam.