Clip with the article about Bangla new year
Pahela Baishakh first day of the Bangla year. Pahela Baishakh is celebrated
in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. In Bangladesh Pahela
Baishakh is a national holiday. Pahela Baisakh falls on April 14 or 15.
Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri
calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, the agricultural
year does not coincide with the fiscal. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed
to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal
Emperor akbar ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi,
a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bangla year on the basis of
the lunar Hijri and Bangla solar calendars. The new Fasli San (agricultural
year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar's ascension
to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently became known as bangabda or
Bengali year.
Celebrations of Pahela Baishakh started from Akbar's reign. It was customary to
clear up all dues on the last day of Chaitra. On the next day, or the first day
of the new year, landlords would entertain their tenants with sweets. On this
occasion there used to be fairs and other festivities. In due course the
occasion became part of domestic and social life, and turned into a day of
merriment.
The main event of the day was to open a halkhata or new book of accounts. This
was wholly a financial affair. In villages, towns and cities, traders and
businessmen closed their old account books and opened new ones. They used to
invite their customers to share sweets and renew their business relationship
with them. This tradition is still practised, especially by jewellers.
New year's festivities are closely linked with rural life in Bengal. Usually on
the day everything is scrubbed and cleaned. People bathe early in the morning
and dress in fine clothes and then go to visit relatives, friends and neighbours.
Special foods are prepared to entertain guests. Baishakhi fairs are arranged in
many parts of the country. Various agricultural products, traditional
handicrafts, toys, cosmetics as well as various kinds of food and sweets. are
sold at these fairs. The fairs also provide entertainment, with singers and
dancers staging jatra, pala gan, kavigan, jarigan, gambhira gan, gazir gan and
alkap gan. They present folk songs as well as baul, marfati, murshidi and
bhatiali songs. Narrative plays like laily-majnu, yusuf-zulekha and Radha-Krishna
are staged. Among other attractions of these fairs are puppet shows and
merry-go-rounds.
Many old festivals connected with new year's day have disappeared, while new
festivals have been added. With the abolition of the zamindari system, the punya
connected with the closing of land revenue accounts has disappeared. Kite flying
in dhaka and bull racing in munshiganj used to be very colourful events. Other
popular village games and sports were horse races, bullfights, cockfights,
flying pigeons, boat racing. Some festivals, however, continue to be observed,
for example, bali or wrestling in Chittagong and gambhira in Rajshahi.
Observance of Pahela Baishakh has become popular in the cities. Early in the
morning people gather under a big tree or on the bank of a lake to witness the
sunrise. Artistes present songs to welcome the new year. People from all walks
of life wear traditional Bengali dresses: young women wear white sarees with red
borders and adorn themselves with bangles, flowers, and tips. Men wear white
pyjamas or dhoti and kurta. Many townspeople, start the day with the traditional
breakfast of panta bhat (cooked rice soaked with water), green chillies, onion,
and fried hilsa fish.
The most colourful new year's day festival takes place in Dhaka. Large numbers
of people gather early in the morning under the banyan tree at Ramna Park where
chhayanat artistes open the day with Tagore's famous song, Eso he Baishakh eso
eso (Come O Baishakh, come), welcoming Baishakh. A similar ceremony welcoming
the new year is also held at the Institute of Fine Arts, university of dhaka.
Students and teachers of the institute take out a colourful procession and
parade round the campus. Social and cultural organisations celebrate the day
with cultural programmes. Newspapers bring out special supplements. There are
also special programmes on radio and television.
The historical importance of Pahela Baishakh in the Bangladesh context may be
dated from the observance of the day by Chhayanat in 1965. In an attempt to
suppress Bengali culture, the Pakistan Government had banned tagore songs.
Protesting this move, Chhayanat opened their Pahela Baishakh celebrations at
Ramna Park with Tagore's song welcoming the month. The day continued to be
celebrated in East Pakistan as a symbol of Bengali culture. After 1972 it became
a national festival, a symbol of the Bangladesh nationalist movement and an
integral part of the people's cultural heritage.