Poila Boishakh 2021: Here's what you need to know about the significance, tradition and more
FollowPoila Boisakh is Bengali's new year as it marks the first day of the Bengali calendar. Here's what you should know about it.
Every year Bengali new year is observed on April 14 or 15, and it gets celebrated in West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. The tradition goes long back to the Mughal era. Why?
It is to be believed that Akbar asked his royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to prepare a Bengali calendar incorporating the Islamic lunar calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use to time the tax year in the harvest.
On the other hand, Bangladeshi academic Shamsuzzaman Khan tracked down to Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, Mughal governor, who issued a day for land tax collection. But in Bengali rituals, people think it came from king Vikramaditya.
But, whatever it is, this is an auspicious day for the Bengalis as it is a fresh start with a new year for everyone. People buy new clothes and prepare delicacies or eat a full-on Bengali traditional meal with roshogolla and misti doi (sweetened curd). Celebrating it with music and happiness.
People greet each other by saying "Subho Noboborsho" (which means Happy New Year). Bengalis also send a sweet box to their neighbours as a sweet gesture.
