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Bengali New Year 2020- Significance and History

Bengali New Year (Pohela Boishakh) in Hindu tradition is a festival that commemorates the first day of the Bengali calendar. People celebrate this festival all across the globe with immense joy and galore. It falls on the 14th or 15th of April every year.

However this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic there may be some changes in the celebration. Pohela Boishakh is a state-level holiday in West Bengal and parts of Tripura and Bangladesh. People visit shrines and worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesha. Further, folks exchange the greetings of ‘Shubho Noboborsho’ between friends and families.

Significance of Bengali New Year

A major festival of the Bengali, this is day embarks on the new journey. It is the first day of the Bengali solar calendar. In ancient times the Mughals brought the idea of tax collection during Harvest time. So since then, it’s been celebrated as Shubhonobobarso. Poila Boishakh is also celebrated in Punjab known as Viashaki and other parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala. On this day, the crops are harvested and so holds a lot of significance.

Celebration of Shubho Noboborsho

Celebration in West Bengal

On the eve of the festival, people visit the Kalighat temple and offer their prayer to the gods. They clean their houses and furnish their surroundings to welcome the new year. Many visit holy rivers and take a dip in the water to purify their soul. Moreover, people dress up in traditional attires and then go about the entire day. Bengalis make a number of delicacies on this day like mutton curry, fish curry, Radhaballavi, Chholar dal.

Merchants and traders conduct puja for a new beginning of their shops and godowns. People decorate their houses with rangoli also called Alponas mango leaves. Further, it is the perfect timing for a family gettogether.

Celebration in Tripura

Devotees from all parts of the country visit the Tripuvaseri temple on Bengali New Year. In fact, the festival in Tripura is full of pomp and colorful outfits. The fair there is the center of attraction. Various folk dances and live performances are enjoyed by the localities in Tripura. The government ensures all the arrangements to commence the new day.

History of Bengali New Year

In the 145th century, Emperor Akbar was the one to introduce the Bengali Claneder hence the Poeila Baishakh. During the early Mughal period the Islamic calendar was not in sync with the harvest time. Moreover half of the revenue was solely dependent on agriculture. This led to arrears in tax collection. So Akbar came up with the idea of a Bengali calendar. It facilitated the tax collection of the harvest in which family occurred during springtime. This way the Bengali New Year same into existence.

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