Students of Charukala (Fine Arts) Institute,
Dhaka University preparing for Pohela Boishakh
Colorful celebration of Pohela Boishakh in Dhaka.
New
Year's festivities are closely linked with rural life in Bengal.
Usually on Pohela Boishakh, the home is thoroughly scrubbed and
cleaned; people bathe early in the morning and dress in fine clothes.
They spend much of the day visiting relatives, friends and neighbours.
Special foods are prepared to entertain guests. This is one rural
festival that has become enormously big in the cities, especially in
Dhaka.
Boishakhi 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 (traditional plays),
pala gan,
kobigan,
jarigan,
gambhira gan,
gazir gan and
alkap gan. They present folk songs as well as
baul,
marfati,
murshidi and
bhatiali songs. Narrative plays like
Laila-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, and boat racing.
Some festivals, however, continue to be observed; for example,
bali (wrestling) in Chittagong and
gambhira in Rajshahi are still popular events.
Observance
of Pohela Boishakh 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. Artists present songs to usher in the new year.
People from all walks of life wear traditional Bengali attire: young
women wear white saris with red borders, and adorn themselves with
churi bangles,
ful flowers, and
tip (bindis). Men wear white
paejama (pants) or
lungi(dhoti/dhuti) (long skirt) and
kurta (tunic). Many townspeople start the day with the traditional breakfast of
panta bhat (rice soaked in water), green chillies, onion, and fried hilsa fish. [[Image:Panta iLish .jpg|thumb|left|240px|
Panta Ilish - a traditional platter of leftover rice soaked in water with fried Hilsa, supplemented with dried fish (
Shutki), pickles (
Achar), lentils (
dal), green chillies and onion - a popular dish for the Pohela Boishakh festival in the city of
Kolkata and the whole of
West Bengal. 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 artists open the day with
Rabindranath Tagore's famous song, এসো, হে বৈশাখ, এসো এসো
Esho, he Boishakh, Esho Esho
(Come, O Boishakh, Come, Come). 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 Pohela Boishakh in the
Bangladeshi context may be dated from the observance of the day by
Chhayanat in 1965. In an attempt to suppress
Bengali culture , the Pakistani Government had banned poems written by
Rabindranath Tagore , the most famous poet and writer in
Bengali literature.
Protesting this move, Chhayanat opened their Pohela Boishakh
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. Later, in the mid- 1980s the Institute of Fine Arts
added colour to the day by initiating the Boishakhi parade, which is
much like a carnival parade.
Today, Pohela Boishakh celebrations
also mark a day of cultural unity without distinction between class or
religious affiliations. Of the major holidays celebrated in
Bangladesh
, only Pohela Boishakh comes without any preexisting expectations
(specific religious identity, culture of gift-giving, etc.). Unlike
holidays like
Eid ul-Fitr,
where dressing up in lavish clothes has become a norm, or Christmas
where exchanging gifts has become an integral part of the holiday,
Pohela Boishakh is really about celebrating the simpler, rural roots of
the Bengal. As a result, more people can participate in the festivities
together without the burden of having to reveal one's class, religion,
or financial capacity.
