Pohela Boishakh - Bengali New Year

Although Bangladesh is a young independent country, it has a long history as a part of South Asia's ancient Bengal region. Modern Bangladesh is a result of the region's battles against domination and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Many foreigners still see Bangladesh through the perspective of "progress" today. Many Bangladeshis, however, object to representations of their culture that reduce it to the challenges of the present. Instead, for many Bangladeshis, enduring cultural traditions and creative expressions are a source of tremendous pride.

Pahela Boishakh is the first day of Bengali Sun. This day is celebrated as New Year in Bangladesh. It is a universal folk festival of Bengali. On this day, the new year is welcomed in a joyful atmosphere. New Year is a symbol of prosperity and new life. Forgetting the sadness of past mistakes and failures, the New Year is celebrated with new happiness, peace and prosperity. All public and private institutions are closed on this day. Once New Year was celebrated as Artava Utsav or seasonal festival. It was then closely related to agriculture, as agriculture was seasonal. To facilitate this agriculture, the Mughal emperor Akbar introduced the Bengali year on 10/11 March 1584 Christian era and it came into effect from the time of his accession (5 November 1556). Bengali year was introduced based on Hijri Chandrasana and Bangla Saurasana. The new season was first known as 'Fasli season', later it was known as Bangabd.

Pohela Boishakh is the first day of the Bengali calendar. It is usually celebrated on 14 April. Pohela Boishakh marks the start day of the crop season. Usually on Pôhela Boishakh, the home is thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned; people bathe early in the morning and dress in fine clothes. They spend much of the day visiting relatives, friends, and neighbours and going to the fair. Fairs are arranged in many parts of the country where various agricultural products, traditional handicrafts, toys, cosmetics, as well as various kinds of food and sweets are sold. The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers, dancers and traditional plays and songs. Horse races, bull races, bullfights, cockfights, flying pigeons, and boat racing were once popular. All gatherings and fairs consist a wide spread of Bengali food and sweets. The most colourful New Year's Day festival takes place in Dhaka.

In the past, the main festival of Bengali New Year was Halkhata. It is purely an economic matter. Businessmen in villages, townships and cities used to complete their old accounts and open new account books at the beginning of the new year. On this occasion, they would invite new and old customers and distribute sweets and establish new business links with them. This traditional ceremony is celebrated even today.

The day has a special attraction for the town people. They rise early in the morning & put on their best dress that is pyjama and panjabee. In the previous era, they only use red & white colored dresses but very gradually it changes & spread with different color variations. Now various colors are used in dresses, sarees, salwar & Punjabi with different motifs of folks & heritage to focus our tradition. Theme based dresses added a new dimension to the fashion. People all over the country try their best to put different colorful dresses. Pahela Baishakh represents our age-old tradition & culture. It is the manifestation of our cultural heritage.

Many of the traditional New Year's celebrations have vanished over the course of time, and many new ones have replaced them. When the permanent community was abandoned, the Punyah celebration also vanished. Pahela Baisakh was a day of merit for the landlords of the period. The kite flying in Dhaka and the cow races in Munshiganj used to be highly elaborate. However, the common pastimes in rural Bengal include horse racing, bull fighting, cockfighting, pigeon racing, boat racing, and wearing many different types of clothing. The Balikhela in Chittagong and the Gambhira in Rajshahi are two popular regional events that are held with a lot of excitement.

Bangla Academy, Nazrul Institute, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Bangladesh National Museum, Chayanaut, Bulbul Fine Arts Academy, Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), Nazrul Academy, Liberation War on the occasion of Bangla New Year celebration Institutions like museums, engineers institutes and cultural organizations of the country undertake various programmes. Those programs include cultural programs, discussion meetings, colorful processions, Baisakhi fairs etc. Bangladesh radio and television broadcast special programs on Pahela Baisakh. Apart from this, newspapers publish special articles with research articles on Bangabd, New Year and Bengali culture. 

Traditionally, panta – Ilish bhaaja with different kinds of bhorta has been the food of choice to mark the festivities in Bangladesh.  Panta is leftover rice soaked in water and is very popular in the rural areas.  Due to the fact that rural Bangladeshis do not own refrigerators, water is poured on left over rice to keep the rice cool and prevent spoiling during the hot summer months.   It is often the most common breakfast for rural people served with salt, onion and chili to fill themselves up for the entire workday.  In current days, it has become a trend to eat panta by the urban people to celebrate Nobo Borsho. Hilsa, or Ilish as it is known amongst Bengali, is an immensely popular fish in Bangladesh.  Flavorful, crispy, delicious Ilish bhaaja or fried Hilsa is another item of choice to celebrate Pohela Boishakh.  I wrote about Ilish on my Shorshe Salmon post earlier.  We have few big Bangladeshi and Indian stores in the area who carry the Padma Ilish which is the tastiest of all Ilish.  Though it is frozen, I find it better than no Ilish at all.  Recently, I found out there is a fish called American Shad, which tastes similar to Ilish and available in North America.  I have yet to try.  If Hilsa is not available in your area, you may try Shad.