Poila Baisakh commemorates the Bengali New Year. In Bengali, the word Pohela means first and Baisakh signifies the new month. Therefore, according to the Bengali calendar Baisakh is the first month. Bengalis across the globe celebrate this day by cleaning and decorating the houses with beautiful rangolis or alpona outside homes. Some even visit temples and pray for prosperity in the coming year. Pohela Boishakh lso signals the beginning of the financial year for the Bengali business class. Shopkeepers, on this day, invite customers and even distribute sweets and calendars. This year, the day is being celebrated on April 15.
The Bengali New Year falls on either April 14 or April 15 every year. In 2023, the Bengali New Year will be celebrated on April 15.
The origin of the Bengali calendar is attributed to Shashanka, a 7th-century king. However, it is believed that the Mughal Emperor Akbar later modified this calendar for tax collection purposes.
The Mughals followed the lunar Islamic Hijri calendar. During that time, the economy was mainly dependent on agricultural produce. In Emperor Akbar’s era, tax was collected as per the Hijri calendar, which didn’t coincide with the harvest season in Bengal. When the landowners were ready to collect tax, the peasants would still be waiting for their produce, and sometimes, they were forced to pay taxes out of season.
In order to ease the tax collection process, Akbar asked his royal astronomer to merge the two calendars—the Islamic lunar calendar and the solar Hindu calendar. This calendar, sometimes referred to as ‘Fasholi Shan,’ facilitated the tax collection process in Bengal after the spring harvest.
Pohela Boishakh is an important festival for Bengalis, as it marks the beginning of a new financial year. On this day, men and women visit temples in the morning and seek blessings from Gods and Goddesses for a prosperous year ahead. They wear traditional attire, wish their friends and family members, and buy items of gold and silver, as buying these metals on this auspicious day is considered a sign of good fortune.
How to Celebrate Bengali New Year
Just like any other celebration in India, Bengali New Year celebrations involve lots of delicious food! Here are some ways by which you can celebrate Bengali New Year:
- Start the day by visiting a temple and seek blessings from God.
- Make authentic Bengali cuisine, like shukhto, aloo posto, chholar dal, and shorshe ilish, and more, and have a meal together as a family.
- People usually wear traditional attire on this day, especially when visiting a temple or hosting relatives. So, bring out your favourite saree or kurta, dress your finest, spend time with your family, and make memories.
- Clean and decorate your home ahead of time, and make alpona or rangoli.
- People also celebrate Bengali New Year by visiting their friends and family, and wishing them ‘Shubho Noboborsho’. While you can’t visit your friends and relatives due to the pandemic this year, you can call them up, or send them a sweet message to let them know you’re thinking of them.
*Shubho Nobo Borsho to you and your family!
*On Poila Baisakh I wish you luck and prosperity.
