First day of Baishakh (solar)
Pohela Boishakh
Also known as Poila Baisakh · Bengali New Year
Pohela Boishakh is the first day of the Bengali calendar: the New Year of Bengal. In West Bengal it follows the sidereal solar reckoning and falls in mid-April, opening the month of Baishakh.
2026
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
2027
Thursday, 15 April 2027
The day at a glance
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Significance
It is a cultural rather than purely religious new year: traders open fresh account books in the halkhata ceremony, and the day celebrates Bengali identity through music, poetry and food. Processions and Boishakhi fairs mark the occasion.
How Pohela Boishakh is observed
People wear new clothes, greet one another with “Shubho Noboborsho,” and gather for Tagore songs and music; shops begin halkhata with a Lakshmi-Ganesh puja, and homes share sweets and festive Bengali fare.
FAQ
When is the Bengali New Year?
In West Bengal it falls on ~15 April (the sidereal solar new year); the Bangladesh fixed-calendar date is 14 April.
What is halkhata?
The opening of fresh business account books on Pohela Boishakh, begun with a small puja: a merchant’s new-year ritual for prosperity.
How is Pohela Boishakh greeted?
With “Shubho Noboborsho”: “Happy New Year” in Bengali.
Around the same season
Plan around Pohela Boishakh
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