Pohela Boishakh and its history

To read our full magazine, click here : Bengali New Year or Pohela Boishakh, occurring on 14th April, is the first day of the Bengali calendar. This is the first day of the Bengali first month Boishakh according to Hindu Vedic Solar Calendar, based on Surya Siddhanta. This festival generally celebrates in West Bengal, Bangladesh, Tripura and Assam. The New Year begins in different seasons in different countries of the world. The Bengali New Year is in summer. Summer is not so pleasant time in the region of Bangal. Festivals and merriments are not as much possible in summer as during the beginning of winter or spring. However, Pohela Boishakh connects all Ethnic Bengalis irrespective of religious and regional differences. Ethnic Bengalis across the world and from all walks of life unite to celebrate this festival. To every Bengali, young and old, rich and poor, wise and ignorant, it is a time of gaiety to be celebrated with great merry-making, to be enjoyed in every possible manner.

This festival was promulgated by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1584 AD. During Mughal reign, Hindus were bound to pay taxes as per the rule of Muslim Hijri calendar, based on lunar calendar which did not coincide with the harvest. To give relief and to streamline the tax collection Mughal emperor ordered a reform of the calendar.  Revenue was collected according to the lunar year, whereas the harvest was dependent on the solar one. From the beginning of his reign, Akbar had felt the need of introducing a uniform, scientific, and workable system of calculating days and months through a reformed calendar. With this end in view, he commissioned Amir Fathullah Shirazi, a distinguished scientist and astronomer, to make the changes.  However, the Public celebration of Pohela Boishakh and the large-scale organizations of cultural events have started more recently.

Observance of Pohela Boishakh has become popular in the cities these days. The most colorful Pohela Boishakh festival takes place in Dhaka. 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”. Social and cultural organizations celebrate the day with cultural programmes. Newspapers bring out special supplements. Prior to this day, special discounts are available on furniture, clothes, electronics, shopping and various deals. Special line of sarees, usually cottons, and white sarees with red print is sold before this day as everyone dresses up for this day. Jasmine flowers are also a huge sale for this event which adorns the women's hair. Pohela Boishakh is also the beginning of all business activities in Bengal. The Bengali Hindu traders purchase new accounting book. On this very day many shop keepers worship Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth for wealth, prosperity and welfare. It is marked as the beginning of the business. The Hindu traders purchase new accounting book which is known as “Halkhata”. People have also chosen this day for socializing. Many shop keepers invite their customers to their shops, so that they can be a part of this celebration.

The historical importance of Pohela Boishakh in the Bangladeshi context may be dated from the observance of the day by Chhayanat in 1965. In an attempt to suppress Bengali culture, the Pakistani Government had banned poems written by Rabindranath Tagore . Protesting this move, Chhayanat opened their Pohela Boishakh celebrations at Ramna Park with Tagore's song “Esho he Boishakh”. The day continued to be celebrated in East Pakistan as a symbol of Bengali culture. After 1972 it became a national festival, a symbol of the Bangladesh nationalist movement and an integral part of the people's cultural heritage. Later, in the mid- 1980s the Institute of Fine Arts added color to the day by initiating the Boishakhi parade, which is much like a carnival parade.

In France, the Bengali New Year is celebrated in various cities such as Paris, and Toulouse through Boishakhi fairs, where people gather to celebrate the culture Bengalis through dances, fashion shows, stalls of art, music, clothing, food etc. But the largest celebrations of the Bangla New Year are held in Paris. Along with France, Sweden, Italy and United Kingdom also celebrate the Bengali New Year with festivals and merriments. The Bengali community in the United Kingdom celebrates the Bengali New Year with a street festival in London. It is also the largest Asian festival in Europe and the largest Bengali festival outside of Bangladesh.

Pohela Boishakh and Boisakhi Mela  are one of the most colourful aspects of Boisakhi celebrations in the Bengali culture. One can find vivid and vibrant colours of life in rural Bangla in such fairs. Happy with the harvest and the ensuing prosperity, men and women dress themselves in their fanciest clothes and participate in the Boisakhi fair with joy. Various activities have been incorporated in Boishakhi fairs to give people a chance to let their hair loose and enjoy the spirit of life and inner freedom. However, this fair is no longer a part of bengali rural culture. Boishakhi fairs are everywhere nowadays. It is a major cultural day for Bengalis and they spend this day with nice celebration. Bengalis use to celebrate this festival with great love, spirit and enthusiasm and in this modern era they also greet their closed one through beautiful Bengali New Year SMS and by saying “Subho Noboborso” or “Subho Pohela Boishakh” to convey their love and feelings for them. Today Pohela Boishakh is a national holiday of Bangladesh and public holiday of Kolkata and West Bengal.

By Shovan M. RAHMAN

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