'Pohela Boishak' aka 'Bengali New Year' is tomorrow. Here are all the things you should know about this Bengali Cultural festival.

Pohela Boishakh is a special and significant festival for the Bengalis. This cultural festival is celebrated widely by the people residing in Bangladesh and the Bengali-speaking states of India, especially West-Bengal . The festival is celebrated on the first day of the Bengali calendar that usually falls on April 14. This year, the occasion will be celebrated on April 15.

The origins of Pohela Boishakh can be traced back to the Mughal Empire, where it was celebrated as a harvest festival. The festival gained significance during the Bengali Renaissance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when cultural icons like Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam incorporated it into their works.

Pohela Boishakh is celebrated with great zest and excitement among the Bengali communities across the globe. It is a symbol of Bengali cultural identity and a gesture of the region's rich cultural heritage. The festival promotes harmony, spirit of community and a sense of oneness among Bengali people, irrespective of their religion and background.

On this auspicious day, people clean and decorate their houses, put on new clothes mainly traditional dresses, exchange greetings with each other, wishing for peace, prosperity and happiness in the coming year, seek blessings from elders, visit temples, make beautiful alponas or rangolis, prepare rich flavourful sweet and savoury Bengali delicacies followed by a grand feast with family and friends. The day also marks the starting of the financial year for the traders or Bengali business class, and is known as 'Haalkhata' or opening a ledger account. It is a ritual followed particularly in rural areas where the businessmen close all old ledgers and open a new one with new entries. The traders worship and offer their prayers to Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi, send invitations to regular customers and distribute sweets and calendars among them to attract good fortune.

Pohela Boishakh is also an occasion for cultural organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies to display their cultural and artistic talents. The day is marked by various cultural and literary programs, including poetry recitations, song performances, and drama shows. Educational institutions often organize seminars and cultural competitions to promote, protect and preserve Bengali culture and heritage.

Besides, many Bengalis might not know when the Bengali day starts. They begin to greet their families and friends at midnight on April 14 itself but it is not about English day which starts at 12 am. However, Bengali day begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. All Pohela Boishakh festivities start from the first prahar, which means the first hours of the day.