First Day of the Bengali New Year
The first day of Bangla year is called Pahela Baishakh. In Bangladesh, it is celebrated on April 14 according to the official calendar amended by the Bangla Academy. We celebrate the day to welcome the year. It comes to us to remember us and the enthusiasm of Bengali-ness. We welcome the day by singing the song ‘Eso Ha Baishakh Eso Eso’. It is the first day of the Bangla calendar year. It is a symbol of the majesty and legacy of our Bengali culture.
Pahela Baishakh has been playing a symbolic role in our culture and heritage. The festival is celebrated with songs, dances, regional games, kite-flying, ox fighting or reciting of poems with all their regional traits and festivity. The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers and dancers staging Jatra, folk songs as well as baul, marfati, murshidi and bhatiali songs. It reminds us of the Bengali tradition, culture, custom and belief. Rural people make special foods. They also arrange fairs. Shopkeepers decorate their shops and open halkhata. In villages, towns, and cities, traders and businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones. They offer sweets to their customers. Urban people celebrate the day with great interest. They eat panta bhat and hilsha fish in the morning. Young boys put on panjabis and pajamas. Young girls put on yellow sarees. People enjoy themselves taking part in different festivals and different functions.
The Bengali-speaking people all over the world eagerly wait for this day because it is an exclusive and unique day in their lives. Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy, Chayanot and the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University arrange cultural functions. Students and teachers of the institute take out a colorful procession and parade around the campus. The day’s first program begins at dawn at Ramna Batamul. Students and teachers of the institute take out a colorful procession and parade around the campus. The national dailies publish special articles on the day. A large number of people wearing traditional dresses attend the program. Everyone is in a jolly mood. Pahela Baishakh has been considerably enriched by poets, writers, painters, musicians, and educationists.
Pahela Baishakh is a day of great joy and significance. The day also marks the opening of a new business year across Bangladesh. It reminds us of our culture and tradition. All people welcome the new year and celebrate the day with the hope that the new year will bring peace and happiness to their life. The day comes with joy and goes with lots of joyous moments in our minds. The day teaches us to be united and dreams a new.
