DUCSU strays from Boishakh, announces Bengali New Year celebrations in Agrahayan

The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) has announced that it will celebrate Bengali New Year at the start of Agrahayan rather than on the traditional first day of Boishakh.

The newly elected DUCSU leadership intends to organise the event on Sunday, the first day of the Bengali month of Agrahayan, breaking with a long-standing practice.

At a press conference on Friday, DUCSU leaders outlined the day-long programme, organised jointly with “Revolutionary Cultural Unity” at the university’s Faculty of Fine Arts.

DUCSU’s Literature and Culture Secretary Musaddik Ibn Ali Mohammad, explained the rationale behind marking the New Year in Agrahayan instead of Boishakh.

The four-part event will begin on Sunday morning with an art session titled “Nabanna in Colours”, continuing to 10pm.

Dhaka University authorities have long marked Pohela Boishakh with elaborate festivities to welcome the Bengali New Year, an event that has since evolved into a national cultural tradition and secured UNESCO cultural heritage recognition.

The Mongol Shobhajatra procession, originating in the 1980s from the Faculty of Fine Arts as part of a protest against military rule, received UNESCO recognition in 2016.

Each year, after the Chhayanaut performance at Ramna Batamul, the Mongol Shobhajatra begins with the national anthem in front of the Faculty of Fine Arts, drawing crowds to Shahbagh from early morning.

After the fall of the Awami League government in the July Uprising and during the 2025 interim administration, the Mongol Shobhajatra was renamed the “Barshabaran Ananda Shobhajatra”.