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EveryParampara

Next: 14 Apr 2027

Pohela Boishakh

The Bengali new year: red and white clothes, panta ilish, fairs and the Mangal Shobhajatra of Dhaka.

Pohela Boishakh: Mongol Shovajatra one of the traditional culture of Bangladeshi during Bengali New Year festival.
Photo: Abidhasan00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When is Pohela Boishakh in 2027?

Pohela Boishakh 2027 is on Wednesday, 14 April 2027. Other years: 2026, Tuesday, 14 April 2026; 2028, Friday, 14 April 2028.

About Pohela Boishakh

Pohela Boishakh, or Poila Boishakh in West Bengal, begins the Bengali calendar year on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in India. In Dhaka, thousands gather at dawn in the Ramna park to hear Rabindranath Tagore's songs of the season, and a colourful Mangal Shobhajatra procession with giant masks, listed by UNESCO, moves through the streets. People wear red and white, women adorn their hair with flowers, and breakfast is panta bhat, fermented rice with fried hilsa, green chilli and onion. Shopkeepers open a new ledger, called halkhata, and give customers sweets. Fairs held in villages sell toys, clay figures and sweets, and folk music and wrestling are performed.

Pohela Boishakh dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

YearPohela Boishakh date
2026Tuesday, 14 April 2026
2027Wednesday, 14 April 2027
2028Friday, 14 April 2028

What is eaten

  • panta bhat
  • ilish
  • mishti
  • jalebi

Also part of it, and being written: Mangal Shobhajatra (The colourful new year procession of Dhaka.), Panta bhat (The new year breakfast of soaked rice.), Halkhata (The new account ledger opened on the day.).

More marked on Pohela Boishakh

🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreAlpanaআলপনা (Alpona) A Bengali floor painting tradition using rice flour paste to mark festivals and rituals.Performance 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 6 moreBoishakhi Melaবৈশাখী মেলা A Bengali New Year fair in London each May, with a parade, music and food stallsFestival
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background: "Pohela Boishakh" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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