Pahela Boishakh is being celebrated on a limited scale for the second year in a row across Bangladesh due to the lockdown enforced by the government to curb the rising spread of Covid-19.
Television channels aired a special program on Wednesday morning as people stayed indoors on the first day of the Bangla calendar.
People of Bangladesh celebrate Pahela Boishakh every year on April 14. But this year, all programs have been canceled to avoid mass gatherings in a bid to contain virus transmission.
Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar in the year 1556 of the Gregorian calendar to streamline the timing of land tax collection in the then ‘Subah Bangla’ region, much of which now falls in Bangladesh.
Since then, Pahela Boishakh celebrations have become an integral part of the Bangalis .
The day is observed as a public holiday.
Renowned cultural organizations and institutions as Chhayanaut, the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) of Dhaka University, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) and Liberation War Museum Bangladesh (LWM), all have lined up online events to welcome the new year 1428.
The marquee events of the day — the traditional Borsho-Boron program by Chhayanaut and the Mangal Shobhajatra parade by FFA, Dhaka University — have all been canceled. Both Chhayanaut and FFA broadcast pre-recorded programs on national TV.
First observed in 1989 by FFA as a colorful procession celebrating the Bengali New Year with people participating from all walks of life, the annual Mangal Shobhajatra received the recognition of UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in November 30, 2016.
Unfortunately, the plan to organize the event this year also had to be shelved this year due to pandemics.
This year, April 14 also marks the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Bangladesh and some other Muslim countries across the world.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages greeting countrymen and all Bangla-speaking people across the globe on the occasion.
