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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.
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Baisakhi mela |
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.
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Pahela Baisakh cultural function at Ramna Prak |
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.
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Baisakhi festivity, Dhaka |
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.
[Sambaru Chandra Mohanta]
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