Poila Boishakh (Bengali New Year)

About

Poila Boishakh means "the first of Boishakh", the first month of the Bengali calendar. It is the Bengali New Year, celebrated in West Bengal, Tripura, Bangladesh (where it is called Pohela Boishakh) and by Bengalis all over the world. It is also called Naba Barsha, "the new year".

The Bengali calendar is solar. The New Year falls when the Sun enters Mesha, around April 14 or 15. In Bangladesh it is fixed on April 14 in the revised national calendar. In West Bengal the date follows the traditional almanac, so it usually falls on the 14th or the 15th. This means a small difference in date between communities, and that is normal. The Bengali calendar page on this site explains the calendar.

Poila Boishakh is one of the few festivals that Bengalis of every religion keep together. It is a cultural and seasonal festival, and people of all faiths and backgrounds join in.

Significance and stories

The year in the Bengali calendar, the Bangabda, is the Gregorian year minus 593 or 594, and it changes on Poila Boishakh. There are different accounts of how the era began. Some link it to a revenue reform under the Mughal emperor Akbar, which tied the tax year to the harvest. Others link it to the ancient king Shashanka. Scholars do not agree, and both appear in the literature.

The old link with farming and trade explains the customs of the day. Merchants closed their old accounts and opened new ones. This gave rise to the halkhata, the new account book, in which shopkeepers write the first entry of the year, often with a short prayer. Customers are invited and sweets are served.

For many Bengalis, the day is also an expression of cultural identity, with songs and poetry. A well-known song by Rabindranath Tagore welcomes Boishakh and is sung on the day.

How to observe (puja vidhi)

1. Clean the house. The day before, clean the home and the shop. Make a rice-paste design (alpana) at the entrance.
2. Early bath. Bathe in the morning and put on new clothes. Many women wear a white sari with a red border, and many men wear a panjabi kurta.
3. Home prayer. Light a lamp and offer flowers and sweets to the family deity. Seek the blessings of elders by touching their feet where this is your custom.
4. Temple visit. Visit a temple. Many people go to a Kali temple or to the temple of their choice, and many offer a first prayer for the year.
5. Halkhata. Business families set up the new account book, mark it with a sacred symbol or the names of Ganesha and Lakshmi, and make a first entry. Customers and friends are offered sweets.
6. Festive meal. Share a special meal with the family and with guests.
7. Fairs and songs. Go to a local fair (mela), and enjoy songs, poetry and dance.

Traditions vary by family and by place. Follow your own custom.

Puja items (samagri)

• Rice flour paste for the alpana
• A lamp, ghee or oil, incense and camphor
• Flowers, sweets and fruit for the offering
• Sandalwood paste and vermilion, for the new account book
• A new account book, for those in business
• New clothes
• Sweets for guests, such as sandesh, rasgulla and mishti doi
• Ingredients for the festive meal

Fasting and food

Poila Boishakh is a day of feasting. In Bangladesh, the well-known traditional breakfast is panta bhat, rice soaked in water, eaten with fried hilsa fish, green chillies, onion and lentils, and this is eaten widely in cities. In West Bengal, Hindu families often cook a vegetarian or a fish meal according to their family custom, with items such as luchi, aloo dum, shukto (a mild bitter vegetable dish), and sweets.

Bengali sweets are shared by all. Households with Vaishnava or vegetarian traditions will keep the meal vegetarian. Follow your family's custom.

Anyone with a health condition, and pregnant or nursing women, children and elders, should follow their doctor's advice about food.

Regional customs

In Dhaka, a large procession called the Mangal Shobhajatra is held on Pohela Boishakh. According to most accounts it was begun by students at the Dhaka University fine arts institute in 1989 (sources differ on earlier precedents), with colourful masks and figures, and was inscribed by UNESCO on its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2016. In West Bengal, many people go to temples in Kolkata, such as Kalighat, on the morning of the New Year. Shops hold halkhata ceremonies. On the eve of the New Year, the last day of Choitro, many villages hold Charak or Gajan, a Shiva festival with folk music and performances.

Other communities begin their year at the same time: Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Vishu in Kerala, Bohag Bihu in Assam and Baisakhi in Punjab.

Celebrating in the USA

Bengali associations and temples in many US cities hold Poila Boishakh events on a nearby weekend in April, with cultural programmes, music, a festive meal and fairs. Look for your local Bengali association.

If it falls on a weekday, keep a small celebration at home: new clothes, a special breakfast, a call to family and a temple visit in the evening. Indian and Bangladeshi grocery stores stock sweets, frozen hilsa and Bengali ingredients. Make an alpana with rice flour on a tray.