Pahela Baishakh

Pahela Baishakh
Pohela Boishakh[1]

Pohela Baishakh celebration in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Official name পহেলা বৈশাখ
Also called Pohela Boishakh[1]
Observed by Bengali people
Type Social and cultural in Bangladesh, a Hindu religious festival in India[2][3][4]
Celebrations Mangal shobhajatra (processions), Baishakhi Mela Fair, Gift-giving, Visiting relatives and friends, Songs, Dance
2017 date Fri, 14th April (Bangladesh),[5]
Sat, 15th April (India)[6]
Frequency annual
Related to Vaisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu, Pana Sankranti, Sri Lankan New Year, Thai New Year, Cambodian New Year, Burmese New Year, Lao New Year

Pahela Baishakh (Bengali: পহেলা বৈশাখ) or Bengali New Year (Bengali: বাংলা নববর্ষ, Bangla Nôbobôrsho), also called Pohela Boishakh,[1] is the traditional new year day of the Bengali people. It is celebrated on 14 April as a national holiday in Bangladesh, and on 14 or 15 April in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura and elsewhere by people of Bengali heritage, irrespective of their religious faith.[7]

The festival date is set according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar as the first day of its first month Baishakh.[8] It therefore almost always falls on or about 14 April every year on the Gregorian calendar.[8] The same day is observed elsewhere as the traditional solar new year and a harvest festival by Hindus and Sikhs, and is known by other names such as Vaisakhi in central and north India, Vishu in Kerala and Puthandu in Tamil Nadu.[2][3][4]

The festival is celebrated with processions, fairs and family time. The traditional greeting for Bengali New Year is শুভ নববর্ষ "Shubho Nabobarsho" which is literally "Happy New Year". The festive Mangal Shobhajatra is organized in Bangladesh. In 2016, the UNESCO declared this festivity organized by the Dhaka University as a cultural heritage of humanity.[9]

Nomenclature

In Bengali, Pahela (Bengali: পহেলা) stands for ‘first’ and Baishakh (Bengali: বৈশাখ) is the first month of the Bengali calendar (Bengali: পহেলা বৈশাখ Pôhela Baishakh).[8] Bengali New Year is referred to in Bengali as Nababarsha (Bengali: নববর্ষ).[3]

Historical background

Mughal origins theory

During the Mughal rule, land taxes were collected from Bengali people according to the Islamic Hijri calendar. This calendar was a lunar calendar, and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles. According to some sources, the festival was a tradition introduced in Bengal during the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar to time the tax year to the harvest, and the Bangla year was therewith called Bangabda. Akbar asked the royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create a new calendar by combining the lunar Islamic calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use, and this was known as Fasholi shan (harvest calendar). According to some historians, this started the Bengali calendar.[10][11] According to Shamsuzzaman Khan, it could be Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, a Mughal governor, who first used the tradition of Punyaho as "a day for ceremonial land tax collection", and used Akbar's fiscal policy to start the Bangla calendar.[12]

According to Shamsuzzaman Khan,[12] and Nitish Sengupta, the origin of the Bengali calendar is unclear.[13] According to Shamsuzzaman, "it is called Bangla san or saal, which are Arabic and Parsee words respectively, suggests that it was introduced by a Muslim king or sultan."[12] In contrast, according to Sengupta, its traditional name is Bangabda.[13][14]

Some historians attribute the Bengali calendar to the 7th century king Shashanka.[12][13] The term Bangabda (Bangla year) is found too in two Shiva temples many centuries older than Akbar era, suggesting that Bengali calendar existed before Akbar's time.[13] It is also unclear, whether it was adopted by Hussain Shah or Akbar. The tradition to use the Bengali calendar may have been started by Hussain Shah before Akbar.[13] Regardless of who adopted the Bengali calendar and the new year, states Sengupta, it helped collect land taxes after the spring harvest based on traditional Bengali calendar, because the Islamic Hijri calendar created administrative difficulties in setting the collection date.[13]

Hindu origins theory

According to some historians, the Bengali festival of Pahela Baishakh is related to the traditional Hindu New Year festival called Vaisakhi, and other names, in the rest of India on or about the same dates.[3][15][16] Vaishakhi is an ancient harvest festival of India, particularly the Punjab region.[17][18][19] Vaisakhi, also spelled Baisakhi, is observed by both Hindus and Sikhs.[4]

The new year festival in eastern and northern states of India is linked to Hindu Vikrami calendar. This calendar is named after king Vikramaditya and starts in 57 BCE.[20] In rural Bengali communities of India, the Bengali calendar is credited to "Bikromaditto", like many other parts of India and Nepal. However, unlike these regions where it starts in 57 BCE, the Bengali calendar starts from 593 CE suggesting that the starting reference year was adjusted at some point.[21][22]

According to Salil Tripathi, many Hindu traditions and customs continue among Bengali people regardless of their current faith.[23] Many Muslim Bengali women, states Tripathi, wear saris, bindi (a mark on their forehead, religious to Hindu women), celebrate pujo (prayers) to Hindu goddess Durga, and usher in Poyla Baisakh to celebrate Bengali new year. This is a part of the tolerance and borrowing of mutual cultural traditions amongst Bengali, according to Tripathi.[23]

Contemporary usage

The current Bengali calendar in use in the Indian states is based on the Sanskrit text Surya Siddhanta. It retains the historic Sanskrit names of the months, with the first month as Baishakh.[10] Their calendar remains tied to the Hindu calendar system and is used to set the various Bengali Hindu festivals. For Bengalis of West Bengal and other Indian states, the festival falls either on 14 or 15 April every year.[10]

In Bangladesh, however, the old Bengali calendar was modified in 1966 by a committee headed by Muhammad Shahidullah, making the first five months 31 days long, rest 30 days each, with the month of Falgun adjusted to 31 days in every leap year.[10] This was officially adopted by Bangladesh in 1987. Since then, the national calendar starts with and the new year festival always falls on 14 April in Bangladesh.[10]

Bangladesh

Mangal Shobhajatra at Pohela Baishakh in Bangladesh. UNESCO recognises Mangal Shobhajatra as cultural heritage.[24]

The Bengali New Year is observed as a public holiday in Bangladesh. It is celebrated across religious boundaries by its Muslim majority and Hindu minority.[25] According to Willem van Schendel and Henk Schulte Nordholt, the festival became a popular means of expressing cultural pride and heritage among the Bangladeshi as they resisted Pakistani rule in the 1950s and 1960s.[26]

The day is marked with singing, processions, and fairs. Traditionally, businesses start this day with a new ledger, clearing out the old. Singers perform traditional songs welcoming the new year. People enjoy classical jatra plays. People wear festive dress with women desking their hair with flowers. White-red color combinations are particularly popular.[27]

Bangladeshi eat festive foods on Pohela Boishakh. These include panta bhat (watered rice), ilish vaja (fried hilsa fish), and various special bharta (pastes).[28][27]

In Dhaka

Students of Charukala (Fine Arts) Institute, Dhaka University preparing masks for Pahela Baishakh
Colorful celebration of Pahela Baishakh in Dhaka.

The celebrations start in Dhaka at dawn with a rendition of Rabindranath Tagore's song "Esho he Baishakh" by Chhayanat under the banyan tree at Ramna (the Ramna Batamul). An integral part of the festivities is the Mangal Shobhajatra, a traditional colourful procession organised by the students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka (Charukala). According to the history, the rudimentary step of Mangal Shobhjatra was started in Jessore by Charupith, a community organization, in 1985. Later in 1989 the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka arranged this Mangal Shobhajatra with different motives and themes. Now, the Mangal Shobhajatra is celebrated by different organization in all over the country.[29]

The Dhaka University Mangal Shobhajatra tradition started in 1989 when students used the procession to overcome their frustration with the military rule. They organized the festival to create masks and floats with at least three theme, one highlighting evil, another courage, and a third about peace.[9] It also highlighted the pride of Bangladeshi people for their folk heritage irrespective of religion, creed, caste, gender or age.[9]

In recent years, the procession has a different theme relevant to the country's culture and politics every year. Different cultural organizations and bands also perform on this occasion and fairs celebrating Bengali culture are organized throughout the country. Other traditional events held to celebrate Poila Boishakh include bull racing in Munshiganj, wrestling in Chittagong, boat racing, cockfights, pigeon racing.[30]

In Chittagong

Pahela Baishakh celebrations in Chittagong involves similar traditions of that in Dhaka. The students of the fine arts institute of Chittagong University brings the Mangal Shobhajatra procession in the city, followed by daylong cultural activities.[31]

At DC hill, a range of cultural programmes are held by different socio-cultural and educational organisations of the city. The Sammilito Pohela Boishakh Udjapon Parishad holds a two-day function at the hill premises to observe the festival, starting with Rabindra Sangeet recitations in the morning. In the late afternoon, through evening, Chaitra Sangkranti programme is held to bid a farewell to the previous year.[31]

At the Chittagong Shilpakala Academy, different folk cultures, music, dances, puppet shows are displayed.[31]

India

Poila Baisakh festive meal.

Bengali people of India have historically celebrated Pohela Baishakh, and it is an official regional holiday in its states of West Bengal and Tripura. The day is also called Naba Barsha.[32]

Like the new year day in the rest of India, Begali families clean their house and decorate them with alpana (rangoli). In the center of the alpana color pattern, they place an earthen pot, filled with water, capped with mango leaves and marked with auspicious Hindu red and white swastika sign.[32] Ganesha – the god of auspicious beginnings, and Lakshmi – the goddess of prosperity and wealth are remembered. Many people visit the nearby river to say their prayers and take a ritual bath.[32]

Notable events of West Bengal include the early morning cultural processions called Prabhat Pheri. These processions see dance troupes and children dressed up with floats, displaying their performance arts to songs of Rabindra Nath Tagore.[33]

Tripura and northeast India

Pahela Baishakh is a state holiday in Tripura. People wear new clothes and start the day by visiting Hindu temples. The day marks the traditional accounting new year for merchants.[34][35] The Hindu Bengalis perform Kumari puja and Ganesha puja, youngsters visit elders to seek their blessings, and women put red sindoor (vermilion) on each other's head as a mark of good wishes.[35] Festive foods such as confectionery and sweets are purchased and distributed as gifts to friends and family members.[35]

The festival is also observed by the Bengali communities in other eastern states such as Assam.[36]

West Bengal

Pahela Baishakh has been the traditional Hindu New Year festival in the West Bengal state, with the new year referred to as the Naba Barsha.[3] The festival falls on April 14 or 15, as West Bengal follows its traditional historic Bengali Hindu calendar, which adjusts for solar cycle differently than the one used in Bangladesh where the festival falls on April 14.[37]

Bengalis mark the day by taking a dip in rivers, then praying to Lakshmi and Ganesha. Traders start a new accounting year.[38] Opening the accounting books is called Hal Khata. Some open the first page by drawing the Hindu symbol of auspiciousness called swastika.[39] Some shopkeepers print goddess calendars with their address, and distribute them to their clients. In some regions, festivities begin a few days before, with music and dance performances.[39]

Celebration in other countries

Bangladesh Heritage and Ethnic Society of Alberta in Canada celebrates its Heritage Festival (Bengali New Year) in a colorful manner along with other organizations. Bengali people in Calgary celebrate the day with traditional food, dress, and with Bengali culture.[40][41]

The Pohela Baishakh new year day is celebrated elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent but called by other names. For example, it is called Vaisakhi by Hindus and Sikhs in north and central India, which too marks the solar new year.[42][43][2] The same day every year is also the new year for many Buddhist communities in parts of southeast Asia such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, likely an influence of their shared culture in the 1st millennium CE.[2] Some examples include:

  1. Rongali Bihu in Assam
  2. Juir Sheetal in Mithila
  3. Bikram Samwat / Naya Barsh in Nepal
  4. Puthandu in Tamil Nadu
  5. Vaisakhi in central and north India
  6. Vishu in Kerala
  7. Vishuva Sankranti in Odisha
  8. Aluth Avuruthu in Sri Lanka.[44]
  9. Songkran in Thailand
  10. Chol Chnam Thmey in Cambodia
  11. Songkan / Pi Mai Lao in Laos
  12. Thingyan in Burma

However, this is not the universal new year for all Hindus. For some, such as those in and near Gujarat, the new year festivities coincide with the five day Diwali festival. For others, the new year falls on Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, which falls a few weeks before Puthandu.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nubras Samayeen; Sharif Imon (2016). Kapila D. Silva and Amita Sinha, ed. Cultural Landscapes of South Asia: Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management. Taylor & Francis. pp. 159–160. ISBN 978-1-317-36592-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Karen Pechilis; Selva J. Raj (2013). South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today. Routledge. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 William D. Crump (2014). Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide. McFarland. p. 113114. ISBN 978-0-7864-9545-0., Quote: "Naba Barsha ("New Year"). Hindu New Year festival in West Bengal State, observed on the first day of the month of Vaisakha or Baisakh (corresponds to mid-April). New Year's Day is known as Pahela Baisakh (First of Baisakh)."
  4. 1 2 3 Robin Rinehart (2004). Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-57607-905-8.
  5. ↑ Official Holiday Calendar, Central Bank of Bengladesh
  6. ↑ Official Holiday Calendar, Kolkata High Court, Government of West Bengal
  7. ↑ Kapila D. Silva; Amita Sinha (2016). Cultural Landscapes of South Asia: Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management. Taylor & Francis. pp. 159–162. ISBN 978-1-317-36592-1.
  8. 1 2 3 Kapila D. Silva; Amita Sinha (2016). Cultural Landscapes of South Asia: Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management. Taylor & Francis. pp. 161–168. ISBN 978-1-317-36592-1., Quote: "Pohela Boishakh is celebrated on the first day of Boishakh, the first month of the Bengali calendar. It falls on 14 April in the Gregorian calendar, and it coincides with similar Vedic calendar-based New Year celebrations (...)"
  9. 1 2 3 Mangal Shobhajatra on Pahela Baishakh, UNESCO
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Kunal Chakrabarti; Shubhra Chakrabarti (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5.
  11. ↑ "Pahela Baishakh". Banglapedia. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Guhathakurta, Meghna; Schendel, Willem van (2013). The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 9780822353188.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. pp. 96–98. ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
  14. ↑ Syed Ashraf Ali, Bangabda, National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh
  15. ↑ Karen Pechilis; Selva J. Raj (2013). South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today. Routledge. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.
  16. ↑ Roshen Dalal (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books. pp. 135–137. ISBN 978-0-14-341421-6.
  17. ↑ Constance Brissenden (2000). Vancouver and Victoria: A Colourguide. Lorimer. pp. 200–. ISBN 978-0-88780-520-2.
  18. ↑ Edain McCoy (2002). Ostara: Customs, Spells & Rituals for the Rites of Spring. Llewellyn. p. xiv. ISBN 978-0-7387-0082-3.
  19. ↑ Aruna Thaker; Arlene Barton (2012). Multicultural Handbook of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics. John Wiley & Sons. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-118-35046-1.
  20. ↑ Eleanor Nesbitt (2016). Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 122, 142. ISBN 978-0-19-874557-0.
  21. ↑ Morton Klass (1978). From Field to Factory: Community Structure and Industrialization in West Bengal. University Press of America. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-7618-0420-8.
  22. ↑ Ralph W. Nicholas (2003). Fruits of Worship: Practical Religion in Bengal. Orient Blackswan. pp. 13–23. ISBN 978-81-8028-006-1.
  23. 1 2 Salil Tripathi (2016). The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy. Yale University Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-300-21818-3., Quote: "The intertwining of cultural traditions reinforced a society which was tolerant and the faiths borrowed from each other. (...) Many Bangladeshi Muslim women wear saris and bindis, or teeps, the dot on their forehead, usually seen only among Hindu women; they celebrate pujo, a Hindu festival for the goddess Durga, and they have no hestitation ushering in Poyla Baisakh, to celebrate the Bengali new year."
  24. ↑ Mangal Shobhajatraon Pahela Baishakh
  25. ↑ Kapila D. Silva; Amita Sinha (2016). Cultural Landscapes of South Asia: Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management. Taylor & Francis. pp. 159–168. ISBN 978-1-317-36592-1.
  26. ↑ Willem van Schendel; Henk Schulte Nordholt (2001). Time Matters: Global and Local Time in Asian Societies. VU University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-90-5383-745-0.
  27. 1 2 Meghna Guhathakurta; Willem van Schendel (2013). The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. pp. 17–21. ISBN 978-0-8223-9567-6.
  28. ↑ V. Prakash; Olga Martin-Belloso; Larry Keener; et al. (25 November 2015). Regulating Safety of Traditional and Ethnic Foods. Elsevier Science. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-12-800620-7.
  29. ↑ মঙ্গল শোভাযাত্রা (Non-English source)
  30. ↑ "Nobo Borsho and Pahela Baishakh: The Past and the Present". The Daily Star. 14 April 2013.
  31. 1 2 3 Chakraborty, Pranabesh. "Chittagong set to welcome Bangla New Year". The Daily Star. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  32. 1 2 3 William D. Crump (2014). Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide. McFarland. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-7864-9545-0.
  33. ↑ 'Poila Baisakh' celebrated in West Bengal, Press Trust of India (April 15, 2015)
  34. ↑ Pahela Baisakh celebrated in Tripura, Bangladesh News (April 15, 2014)
  35. 1 2 3 Tripura people observed Pahela Baishakh, Financial Express (14 April 2016)
  36. ↑ Celebrating New Year all year long!, The Statesman, December 29, 2016
  37. ↑ Kunal Chakrabarti; Shubhra Chakrabarti (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5.
  38. ↑ US Secretary of State John Kerry sends 'Poila Baisakh' greetings to Bengalis, Press Trust of India, NDTV (April 12, 2013)
  39. 1 2 CR Park throbs with Bengali way of life, Snehal, The Hindustan Times (August 11, 2016)
  40. ↑ "Naba Barsha in Bengal". Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  41. ↑ http://bhesa.ca/index.php/events/events-bengali-event-heritage
  42. ↑ "BBC - Religion: Hinduism - Vaisakhi". BBC. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  43. ↑ Crump, William D. (2014), Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide, MacFarland, page 114
  44. ↑ Peter Reeves (2014). The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora. Didier Millet. p. 174. ISBN 978-981-4260-83-1.
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