Poila Baishakh is the Bengali New Year. This is the time of celebration in traditional Bengali homes and the time when businessmen start their financial year. On Poila Boisakh, when people meet each other, they greet one another by saying 'Shubho Noboborsho', which means happy New Year. The date of the Bengali New Year roughly coincides with either the fourteenth or the fifteenth of April each year. Apart from the Bengali community in Kolkata, Poila Baishakh is also celebrated in other parts of West Bengal, by the Bengalis of Bangladesh, the Assamese and the Bengalis who are settled in northeast India. Nowadays, e-cards are available to greet fellow Bengali friends and relatives over the Internet. The Bengali calender is known as the tarikh-e-elahi and this was introduced from 1584 A.D by Akbar, the then emperor of India.
Happenings in the Bengali Homes in Poila Baishakh
According to traditional practice men, women and children ought to take a bath in the holy waters of Ganges in the morning and dress in new clothes. It is a common sight to spot women dressed in red-bordered white saris and white flowers in their buns. Bengalis participate in a procession called the 'Prabhat Pheri'. Homes are cleaned prior to Poila Baishakh in Calcutta and they are beautifully decorated. The corridors and rooms of the houses are adorned with 'Alpanas'. Alpanas are designs, which are painted with rice paste. In some homes, pots are placed containing holy water from the Ganges. These
pots are decorated with mango leaves, coconut and vermilion swastika.
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Poila Baishakh Food
Bengalis are experts in cooking different sorts of dishes including sweets. Naturally, an important festival as Poila Baishakh would remain incomplete without these sumptuous delicacies. The most popular of all items are kosha mangsho, chingrir malailari, mochar ghonto, echorer dalna, tel koi, macher kalia, fish paturi and chatni.
The day prior to the new year day is called 'shonkranti'. 'Pithes' are a must during the Shonkrantis. 'Pithe' is basically a type of sweet dish and comes in different forms such as 'puli pithe', 'gokul pithe', 'patishepta', 'dudh puli and 'arshe pithe'. Also hot rasgullas are very popular. When people visit their relatives and friends, they carry sweets as gifts and the guests too are offered sweets. Some of the authentic Bengali restaurants prepare special menu during the Bengali New Year.
Business Activities on Poila Baishakh
All Bengali shops start their financial year from Poila Baishakh. They sell off all their old stalks at discounted price before the arrival of the new year. The new account book is known as 'halkhata'. They also send out invitations to their old clients to visit their shops on Poila Baishakh. Lord Ganesh is worshiped on this day. All visitors are offered sweets and sometimes small gifts too. Many businessmen inaugurate their new shops on the auspicious occasion of Poila Baishakh.
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