Next: 14 Apr 2027
Pohela Boishakh in Bangladesh
Bangladesh welcomes its new year in red and white sarees, with flowers in the hair and a dawn song at Ramna.
What is worn for Pohela Boishakh in Bangladesh
Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali year, is a national holiday of Bangladesh and falls on 14 April. Crowds gather at dawn at Ramna Park in Dhaka, where the Chhayanaut group sings a song of welcome to the new year. Women wear a white saree with a red border, or a red and white cotton, with flowers in the hair and a red bindi, and men wear a panjabi. Dhakai jamdani, Tangail cotton and tant are the sarees of the day. The Mangal Shobhajatra, a colourful parade of masks and painted figures through Dhaka, is listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. Shopkeepers open a new account book with the Halkhata ceremony, and a feast of panta bhat with fried hilsa is eaten.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu 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.
- Tangail saree: P.K.Niyogi, Public domain, source
- Jamdani: Salim_Khandoker, CC0, source