India is known to be the residence of different cultures and religious people. That’s why one can experience the peaceful presence of different lingual people under the same territory. There are many festivals and occasions being held every year to usher the regional New Year every year. Poila Boisakh is called as the Bengali New Year. In Bengali, Poila means ‘first’ and ‘Baishakh’ is the first month of the Bengali calendar. This occurs on either 14th or 15th April every year. Bengalis celebrate by wearing new clothes and offering ‘Anjali’ to the famous temples scattered around the Indian state West Bengal. Children and younger people touch the feet of the elders to get the blessings at the start of the year. Sweets are distributed to friends, families, and closed ones to keep the bonds intact all through the period. This is the time for the traders to open a new business ledger book by offering small puja to Ganesh and Lakshmi at their shops. The Bengalis living in Kolkata and all of West Bengal, celebrate this traditional procedure of welcoming the New Year even in present times also. Bengalis living in faraway places, celebrate this traditional festive, also.
There are no stipulated performing for the healthy individuals at home. Some visits the Kali temple or Dakshineshwar temple to get the blessings of the Goddesses. Traders organise pujas and invite old customers to their shops. The dues are cleared, and some advances are paid to mark the relationship between merchant and customer intact. Some people organise cultural programmes and Prabhat Pheri in the morning also.
The festival is celebrated with processions, fairs, and family time. The traditional greeting for Bengali New Year is Shubho Nabobarsho, which means Happy New Year. Bengali people of India have historically celebrated Pahela Baishakh, and it is an official regional holiday in the states of West Bengal and Tripura.
Bengalis mark the day by taking a dip in a river, then praying to Lakshmi and Ganesha. Traders start a new accounting year. Opening the accounting books is called Hal Khata. In some regions, festivities begin a few days before, with music and dance performance.