Regional character of Boishakhi celebration

The celebration of Pahela Boishakh or the first day of the Bangla New Year in villages, towns and cities of Bangladesh has added additional flavour as well as nationalistic vibes to it. It has no religious bias and draws freely on both Sanskrit and Perso-Arabic traditions, writes Helal Uddin Ahmed

Coinciding with the advent of Bangla New Year, the Boishakhi festival has been a popular and time-tested tradition that demonstrates the rich folk-culture of Bangladesh and South Asia. As is well-known, three types of calendars are generally followed in Bangladesh: the Gregorian solar calendar (used officially for all purposes); the Islamic lunar calendar (for religious purposes); and the ‘Bangabda’ or Bangla Year (mainly used for socio-cultural occasions and ceremonies). The Bangla Calendar is rooted in agricultural cycle of the Indian subcontinent, and this association is evident from the fact that the Bangla Year was also known as the ‘Fasli Year’ or ‘Crop Year’ during the Mughal era. This calendar intimately reflects the lives and pursuits, the weal and woe of the common people. The agricultural festivities of the rural population revolve around it. The celebration of Pahela Boishakh or the first day of the Bangla New Year in villages, towns and cities of Bangladesh, especially since the second half of the 20th century, has added additional flavour as well as nationalistic vibes to it. It has no religious bias and draws freely on both Sanskrit and Perso-Arabic traditions.

Bangla Calendar: The proponent of the current Bangla Calendar, as followed in Bangladesh, was Fatehullah Shirazi, a famous scholar of the 16th century, who adorned the court of the Sultan of Bijapur. He was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar to devise a calendar that could synchronise annual revenue collection with the harvest time, so that farmers were not subjected to unnecessary hardships. At the same time, the calendar was to be acceptable to all religious communities. Fatehullah based the calendar on the Islamic one, but it took into account the fact that the lunar Islamic year was shorter than the solar year by about twelve days and therefore showed no fixed seasonal pattern. The names of the days and months were derived from the names of stars in Sanskrit, and the number of days, weeks and months remained the same as in the solar year. The new Fasli San or Sal (Crop Year) was introduced by the Mughal Emperor Akbar on 10 or 11 March 1584, but it was back-dated and counted from the day of ascension to throne by Akbar in 1556.

In Bangladesh, the Bangla Calendar was subsequently modified by a committee headed by Dr Muhammad Shahidullah in 1966, which made the first five months of the Bangla Year 31 days long and the remaining ones except Falgun 30 days long. Falgun usually has 30 days, but 31 days in case of leap years. This was officially adopted by Bangladesh in 1987, as a result of which the Bangla New Year (Naba Barsha) or Pahela (1st) Boishakh now falls on 14 April in the country. However, for the Bangalis of West Bengal, Tripura and other states of India, the day falls on either 14 or 15 April in accordance with the Hindu calendar system.

Heritage of Festival: During the Pakistani era, the festival became a popular means of expressing pride in Bangali culture and heritage for the people of East Bengal province, and was often used to protest the acts of despotic Pakistani regimes during the decades of 1950s and 1960s. 

Some historians hold the view that the Bangla festival of Pahela Boishakh is linked to the traditional Hindu New Year festival. For example, Vaishakhi is an ancient harvest festival of India especially observed in the Punjab region. In eastern and northern states of India, the New Year festival is linked to the Hindu Vikrami Calendar, which was named after the King Vikramaditya and launched in the year 57 BC. However, unlike the Vikrami Calendar, the Hindu calendar in Bangla originated from the year 593 AD. The Bengali Calendar currently in vogue in some Indian states is based on the Sanskrit text ‘Surya Siddhanta’, which remains tied to the Hindu calendar system and is applied to fix dates for different Hindu festivals.

Different names are used for celebrating the indigenous New Year’s Day in different parts of India and some South and Southeast Asian Countries. They include: Bohag or Rangali Bihu in Assam, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Vaishakhi in central and northern India, Vishu in Kerala, Vishuva or Maha Vishuva or Pana Sankranti in Odisha and Juir Sheetal in Bihar. The day is also celebrated as ‘Naya Barsh’ in Nepal, ‘Aluth Avurudda’ in Sri Lanka, ‘Songkran’ in Thailand, ‘Choul Chnam Thmey’ in Cambodia, ‘Pi Mai’ or ‘Songkran’ in Laos, and ‘Thingyan’ or ‘Maha Thingyan’ in Myanmar. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh, the festival is celebrated as ‘Boishabi’ (Boishu of the Tripura community, Sangrai of Marma community, Sangkran of the Mros, and Biju of Chakma community). Consequently, Pahela Boishakh can rightly be claimed as a New Year’s Day for a large part of South and Southeast Asia.  

As mentioned earlier, Pahela Boishakh celebrations were started in Bangla during the reign of Emperor Akbar. The tradition of clearing up all dues on the last day of the last month (Chaitra) in the year was in vogue then, which is still practiced at many places of Bangladesh. Then on the first day of the New Year (Naba Barsha), the Zamindars or landlords entertained the tenants with sweets after depositing their taxes to the royal exchequer. The festival was marked by fairs and other festivities. There are historical evidences that the Nawabs of Murshidabad used to observe the ‘Punyah’ festival on the occasion of Bangla New Year’s Day at the start of 18th Century. They used to distribute gifts of money and awards on the occasion. The Zamindars also organised ‘Punyah’ festival by imitating the Nawabs.

With the passage of time, the festival became a part of the social and cultural milieu in both rural and urban Bangladesh. The main event for the traders and businessmen in villages, towns and cities is the updating of the book of accounts or ‘Halkhata’ pertaining to their financial status. The customers are usually invited to share sweets and renew business ties, and this tradition is still maintained, especially by grocers and jewellers. Besides, agricultural products, handicrafts, toys, cosmetics, sweets and other food items are sold, bought and consumed at Boishakhi fairs organised in many parts of the country. The Boishakhi fairs held across the country include ‘Chandana Mela’ and ‘Moinamatir Mela’ at Cumilla; ‘Bhadughar Mela’on the bank of Titas River in Brahmanbaria; ‘Boli Khela and Boishakhi Mela’ at Chattogram. ‘Bakaler Mela’ in Barishal; ‘Nishinath-talar Mela’ in Jashore; ‘Bheramara Ghorapirer Mela’ at Kushtia; ‘Kalupirer Boishakhi Mela’ on the bank of Baral River in Charghat of Rajshahi; ‘Nishith-tala Mela’ in Narail; and ‘Ambarir Mela’ at Dinajpur.

Entertainment is also offered at these fairs through the staging of traditional ‘Jatra’, ‘Pala Gaan’, ‘Kobi-Gaan’, ‘Jari-Gaan’, Gombhira Gaan’, ‘Gazir Gaan’ etc. at the fair venues; and a recent addition has been the holding of musical concerts in urban centres. Traditional folk songs as well as ‘Baul’, ‘Marfati’, ‘Murshidi’ and ‘Bhaiwa’ songs are also rendered, historical and mythological plays like ‘Laily-Majnu’, ‘Yusuf-Julekha’ and ‘Radha-Krishna’ are staged, and puppet shows and merry-go-rounds are organised for the children. Other traditional events for celebrating Pahela Boishakh include boat-races, horse-race, bull-fights, cock-fights, flying kites and pigeons as well as wrestling contest. Men and women wear traditional dresses on the occasion and eat traditional diet like ‘Panta-bhat’, cooked rice, Hilsa fish, ‘Cheera’, molasses and yoghurt.

Celebration widened: As is well-known, the colourful celebration of Pahela Boishakh starts in Dhaka at dawn with the rendition of the Tagore Song ‘Esho Hey Boishakh’ (Come O’ Boishakh) by the artistes of the renowned cultural organisation ‘Chhayanaut’ under the banyan tree of Ramna Park. A similar ceremony is also held at the nearby Institute of Fine Arts premises of Dhaka University. ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ (auspicious procession) is brought out by the students and teachers of this institute, which is also open to the public for participation. This event has been included in 2016 by UNESCO in the ‘Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’.

The embracing of the Bangla New Year by the Bangladeshi people in a festive atmosphere appears to be a reflection of their expectation that the remaining days of the year would also be spent in joy and mirth as an extension of the first day’s festivity. The masses seem to seek and invoke a good omen through the Boishakhi celebrations. As the Islamic holy month of Ramadan coincides with Pahela Boishakh this year, the religious-minded people of Bangladesh are expected to show moderation in their celebrations this year alongside showing sympathy and empathy for their poorer compatriots who have been hit hard lately by the rapid rise in prices of essential commodities. ‘Subho Nababarsha’.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary and former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.
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