(and the entire month
of Boishakh) is considered to
be an auspicious time for
marriages. On this first day of the new year people
wear new clothes and go about socialising. The shopowners, jewellers, traders
and businessmen who use to deal customers directly, invite all of
their old and new customers by sending cards in advance to attend the
small but heartiest reception in the evening and welcome them with
sweets, snacks and cold drinks. The customers are being cordially
invited to take the newly printed Bangla calendar of new year also.
Sweet songs and/or tune of sehnai, adoration of rajanigandha (night
queen) flowers, spray of rose water, cool breeze of summer evening - a
perfect atmosphere of sincere festivity use to be there. Choitro, the
last month of the previous Bangla
year, is the month of hectic
activities and frantic
purchases. Garment traders
organise a Choitro sale and sell the garments with heavy
discounts. Poila Boishakh is the day for
cultural programmes also. Prayers
are offered for the well-being
and prosperity of the family.
Young ladies clad in white
saris with red borders and men clad in dhuti and kurta
take part in the Probhat Pheri
processions early in the
morning to welcome the first
day of the year. This day being auspicious, new
businesses and new ventures
are started. The Mahurat is
performed, marking the
beginning of new ventures. Poila Boishakh is the
beginning of all business
activities in Bengal. The
Bengali Hindu traders
purchase new accounting
book. The accounting in the halkhata begins only after
offering puja. Mantras are
chanted and স্বস্তিক shostik
("Hindu swastika") are drawn
on the accounting book by the
priests. Long queues of devotees are seen in front of
the Kalighat temple from late night. Devotees offer puja to
receive the blessings of the
almighty. On Poila Boishakh, various
fairs are held in West Bengal.
The most famous of these is
Bangla Gaan Mela, held at
Nandan-Rabindra Sadan ground. This fair is conducted
by the Government of West
Bengal. This year, the veteran singer of Nazrulgeeti, Firoza Begum
will come from Bangladesh as the guest of honour in Kolkata. Other
veteran singers
from Kolkata like Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Dwijen Mukhopadhyay and Subir
Sen would be invited at Gaan Mela and these
four artists will be conferred 'Maha Samman' (the great honour) for
their life-time achievement. The Gaan Mela or the fair of songs will
start from 12 April, two days before the Bangla new year. So as a
whole, Poila Boishakh is the day to celebrate with devotion as well as
with fun & frolic.--
A. B.
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