Poila Baishak or Bengali New Year is the first day of the Bengali calendar which originated in ancient India. It is the first day of the first month of Boishakh according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar and usually falls on April 14 or 15. This year, the festival will be celebrated by Bengalis in West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam on April 15.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter handle and extended his wishes to the citizens on the Bengali New Year. “Greetings on Poyla Boishakh. Shubho Nabo Barsho!,” he wrote.
Here’s the tweet:
This day is marked by various cultural and art performances. People visit their relatives and greet each other saying Shubho Noboborsho. Today, the festival is celebrated by Bengalis by buying new clothes and feasting on traditional delicacies.
Google Doodle also commemorated Pohela Boishak and tweeted as: “Today’s #GoogleDoodle celebrates Pohela Boishakh, the First Day of the Bengali calendar. Shubho Noboborsho (Happy New Year)! 🎉 → https://goo.gle/2Qjf3J0”
Talking about the Bengali New Year, it roots back to Mughal rule in the region with the proclamation of tax collection reforms by Emperor Akbar. In Bengali, the word Pahela means ‘first’, and Boishakh is the first month of the Bengali calendar. Bengali New Year is referred to in Bengali as Nobo Borsho, where ‘Nobo’ means new and ‘Borsho’ means year
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