The Bengali nation celebrated the Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali New Year-1430, across the country and elsewhere amid festivity and joy, upholding the rich cultural values and rituals.
The Bengali new year was welcomed through seeking the welfare of mankind and prosperity and success of the country. Besides, the attendants of the celebration programmes voiced against fundamentalism and anti-liberation forces.
Like in the previous years, this year also the celebration of the first day of the Bangla calendar began at the traditional venue Ramna Botomul in capital Dhaka through the national anthem ‘Amar Sonar Bangla, Ami Tomai Bhalobasi’ at 6:00am Friday.
The main attraction of the celebration was the traditional 'Mangal Shovajatra' (a procession seeking welfare of mankind) organised by the Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University.
DU vice chancellor Md Akhtaruzzaman inaugurated the Mangal Shovajatra while state minister for cultural affairs K M Khalid, DU pro- vice chancellor (administration) Muhammad Samad and its pro-vice chancellor (Academic) ASM Maksud Kamal were, among others, present.
Pohela Boishakh is one of the most colourful festivals through which the Bangalees bid farewell to the old year and welcome the New Year.
On this occasion, people from all walks of life wear traditional Bengali clothes. Young women wear white sarees with red borders and adorn themselves with bangles, flowers, and teeps, while men wear white pajamas and panjabi or kurta.
Apart from the mass people, the government also organised elaborate programmes. As part of the government initiatives, the Mangal Shovajatras were brought out at divisional, district and upazila levels.
All secondary schools and colleges of the country celebrated Pohela Boishakh with their own arrangements across the country.
Bangladesh Awami League (AL), one of the country's oldest political parties, took programmes to celebrate the Pohela Boishakh, while Dhaka South City unit of AL brought out a colorful procession in the city.
The procession started from Bahadur Shah Park in the capital today at 7:00am where AL central leaders, including the party's general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, were present.
The procession ended at AL's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue after parading different city streets.
Besides, a discussion was held in front of Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka at 7:00am.
Dhaka south city AL acting president Nurul Amin Ruhul, MP, presided over the discussion while Dhaka South City unit of AL general secretary Humayun Kabir conducted it.
Different government and non-government organisations, socio-cultural platforms, including Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh Shishu Academy, Bangla Academy, Department of Public Libraries, the National Museum, Kabi Nazrul Institute, Copyright Office, National Book Centre, Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the Department of Archives and Library and Dhaka University held various programmes along with seminars, exhibitions and quiz, essay and art compositions on the occasion.
As part of the Bengali New Year celebrations, Boishakhi rallies were held in all districts, upazilas and unions of the country.
Besides, the local administration organised quiz competitions, cultural programmes and folk fairs.
The programmes of the day began in the city with the musical soiree of Chhayanat, a leading cultural organisation of the country, at Ramna Botomul at dawn.
Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private television channels broadcast the programmes live.
The city people started the day with the traditional breakfast of 'panta bhat' (soaked rice), green chili, onion and fried fish at Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Uddyan, Dhaka University Campus, Rabindra Sarobor at Dhanmondi and other amusement places. But, in the month of Ramadan, this traditional way of celebrating Pohela Boishakh was not widely followed.
Graffiti was painted in the walls signifying the arts, culture and heritage of the country.
On the occasion, all museum and archaeological sites remained open for all while children, students, people with disabilities and autism were allowed to visit the museum free of cost.
Improved traditional food items were distributed to jail inmates, patients in hospitals and orphanages on the occasion.
Bangladesh missions abroad also organised different programmes to welcome the New Year.
Different national dailies published colourful supplements while Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and other private TV and radio channels aired special programmes highlighting the significance of Pohela Boishakh.
Some historians attributed the Bengali calendar to the 7th century king Shashanka, which was later modified by Mughal emperor Akbar for the purpose of tax collection.
During the Mughal rule, land taxes were collected from Bengali people according to the Islamic Hijri calendar. This calendar was a lunar calendar, and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles.
Akbar asked the royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create a new calendar by combining the lunar Islamic calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use, and this was known as Fasholi shan (harvest calendar).