About Pohela Boishakh
Pohela Boishakh is the first day of Boishakh and the Bengali new year, kept in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam's Barak valley and by Bengalis everywhere. In 2027 it falls on Thursday, 15 April 2027. Homes are cleaned and repainted, shops open a fresh account book, and the greeting is Shubho Nobo Borsho.
Pohela means first and Boishakh is the first month, so the name is as plain as a date can be. What sits behind it is a solar calendar that Bengal has used for revenue, farming and festivals for centuries, and a set of customs built around money, food and starting clean.
Bengali years are counted in the Bangabda era. To get the Bengali year, subtract 593 from the Gregorian year once Boishakh has begun. Where the era starts is argued over. One account traces it to King Shashanka of Gauda in the early seventh century, which fits the 593 CE epoch. The other credits Akbar, whose officials in 1584 reworked the tax calendar so that dues fell due after the harvest instead of drifting through the seasons with the Islamic lunar year. Historians have not settled it, and both stories get told in Bengali homes.
Why is Pohela Boishakh sometimes 14 and sometimes 15 April?
In West Bengal the day is worked out from the sun, not fixed by rule. Boishakh begins after the sun crosses into Mesh, and depending on the hour of that crossing the almanac puts the new year on 14 or 15 April. Bangladesh removed the wobble in 1966, when a committee under Muhammad Shahidullah at the Bangla Academy gave the first five months 31 days each and pinned Pohela Boishakh to 14 April. Bangladesh adopted that calendar in 1987. So the two Bengals share a new year and sometimes keep it a day apart.
This is also why a Bengali household buys a new panjika, the almanac, every year, and why two families can give you two different dates for the same festival. Bengal has more than one panjika in circulation, and they do not always agree.
| What happens | West Bengal and Tripura | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
| The date | 14 or 15 April, set by the sun's crossing | Always 14 April, fixed by the 1966 calendar reform |
| The calendar | Traditional almanac, month lengths vary | Reformed calendar, first five months of 31 days |
| The public part | Prabhat pheri processions, Tagore songs, shop pujas | Mangal Shobhajatra in Dhaka, on the UNESCO heritage list since 2016; Chhayanaut's dawn concert at Ramna |
| The food people name | A home lunch: luchi, cholar dal, fish, mishti doi | Panta bhat with ilish, eaten in public as much as at home |
| The religious side | Ganesh and Lakshmi puja for the new ledger | Largely kept as a shared cultural day across faiths |
What is halkhata and why do Kolkata shops care about it?
Halkhata is the opening of a new account book on the first day of Boishakh. Haal means new or updated, khata means ledger. The old book is closed, the new one is started, and it begins only after a puja. Shopkeepers take the fresh ledger to a temple in the morning, Kalighat and Dakshineswar in Kolkata among them, get it marked with vermilion and a swastika, and bring it back to the counter.
Then they call in their regular customers. You are expected to settle what you owe, or at least part of it, and in return you get sweets, a packet of nimki, a Bengali calendar for the wall and a cup of tea. It is a debt-collection day dressed as hospitality, and it works. The custom goes back to the days when a landlord's dues were cleared at the start of Boishakh and tenants were fed sweets for showing up.
What happens the day before, on Chaitra Sankranti?
The last day of the Bengali year is Chaitra Sankranti, and in rural Bengal it belongs to Gajan. For about a week before it, men and women who have taken temporary vows, called sannyasis or bhoktas, live apart from their households, wear ochre and go around with drums, keeping a fast for Shiva, Neel or Dharmaraj. It closes with Charak Puja on the last day of Chaitra, best known for the tall charak pole and for devotees who hang from it or push iron rods through their skin. It is not a gentle festival, and it is strongest in parts of Purba Bardhaman, Murshidabad, Malda and Nadia.
Shops run a Chaitra sale through the same fortnight, which is when most families buy the clothes they will wear the next morning. In towns the two things sit side by side: a Charak fair at one end of the road, a clothes sale at the other.
How do Bengali families spend Pohela Boishakh?
The day starts early and at home. The house is cleaned and often given a coat of paint before it. People bathe, wear new clothes, touch the feet of elders and go to a temple or say a short puja at home. Alpona, the white rice-paste pattern, is drawn at the doorway.
Cultural groups and schools hold prabhat pheri, a morning walk through the neighbourhood singing, usually opening with Tagore's Boishakh song. Santiniketan holds its own programme.
Esho he Boishakh, esho esho. Come, Boishakh, come.
Lunch is the centre of the day and it is cooked at home: luchi with cholar dal or alur dom, shukto, a fish curry, chutney, and mishti doi or sandesh at the end. Panta bhat with ilish, the soaked rice and hilsa combination you see in photographs, is more a Dhaka public custom than a Kolkata home one, and even in Bangladesh people argue about how old it is.
One more thing worth knowing before you write. In 2023 the West Bengal assembly resolved to mark Pohela Boishakh as the state's own day, Bangla Dibas, and to make Tagore's "Banglar Mati Banglar Jol" the state song. That choice has since been contested and the state day has been moved back to 20 June, so treat Pohela Boishakh as the cultural new year and leave the politics out of a greeting.
Bengal's other big dates sit elsewhere in the year: Durga Puja in autumn, and Kolkata's own foundation observance. The same mid-April week carries Bohag Bihu in Assam, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Vishu in Kerala.
What to write
Shubho Nobo Borsho, Ma and Baba. I can smell the luchi from here. Save me some mishti doi and tell me the panjika says a good year.
Shubho Nobo Borsho! Hope the lunch runs long and nobody talks about work. New year, same us.
Wishing you and your family a very happy Bengali new year. Shubho Nobo Borsho. Enjoy the day off and the food that comes with it.
Shubho Nobo Borsho. Thank you for a good year of business. Clearing the account this week and looking forward to the next one.
Shubho Nobo Borsho. I know Boishakh in a strange city is just another Tuesday. Wear something new anyway, call your mother, eat something sweet.
Shubho Nobo Borsho to you both. First new year in the new house. May the halkhata of this one stay in the black.
Shubho Nobo Borsho, Jethu. Pranam. May this Boishakh be easy on you and may we get to eat at your table again soon.
Do
- Say "Shubho Nobo Borsho". Written out in Bengali it is শুভ নববর্ষ, and Bengali friends will spot the difference between that and a generic new-year line.
- Send it in the morning. The day is front-loaded, and by evening people are full and sleepy.
- If a shop invites you for halkhata, go, pay what you owe and take the sweets. Refusing them is awkward.
Avoid
- Don't assume the date. West Bengal keeps 14 or 15 April depending on the year, and Bangladesh always keeps 14 April.
- Don't send panta-bhat-and-ilish jokes to every Bengali. In Kolkata homes the day's food is a cooked lunch, not soaked rice.
- Don't wish a family that has had a death in the past year with an exclamation mark. A short, plain line is enough.
- Shubho Nobo Borsho
- Happy new year, in Bengali
- Bangabda
- The Bengali era; the Gregorian year minus 593 once Boishakh has begun
- Halkhata
- The new account book opened by traders on the first day of Boishakh
- Panjika
- The Bengali almanac bought fresh each year, used to fix festival dates
- Prabhat pheri
- The early-morning singing procession through a neighbourhood
- Gajan
- The week of vows and drumming for Shiva that ends the old year
- Charak Puja
- The last-day festival of Gajan, named after the tall charak pole
- Alpona
- The white rice-paste pattern drawn at the doorway
How to wish someone on Pohela Boishakh
A Bengali new year wish is short and said early in the day. "Shubho Nobo Borsho" covers almost everything. Beyond that, name the thing: the halkhata your friend's family shop is opening, the lunch their mother has been cooking since Chaitra, the new panjika on the shelf. For a Bengali friend far from Kolkata, say you know they are missing it. For a business contact, a plain new-year line with a thank-you for the year gone by is exactly right.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + regional language.
When is Pohela Boishakh in 2026 and 2027?
Pohela Boishakh is on 15 Apr every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is Pohela Boishakh in 2027?
Pohela Boishakh 2027 falls on Thursday, 15 April 2027.
How do you say happy new year in Bengali?
Say "Shubho Nobo Borsho", written শুভ নববর্ষ, which means happy new year. Some people write "Shubho Noboborsho" or add "Nabobarsher priti o shubhechha", new year affection and greetings. Either spelling is fine in a message.
Why do West Bengal and Bangladesh celebrate Pohela Boishakh on different days?
West Bengal still sets the day from the sun's crossing into Mesh, so it lands on 14 or 15 April depending on the hour of the crossing. Bangladesh fixed the date at 14 April after a 1966 calendar reform led by Muhammad Shahidullah at the Bangla Academy, adopted officially in 1987. The two calendars share a new year but not always the same date.
What is halkhata?
Halkhata is the Bengali custom of opening a new account book on the first day of Boishakh. Traders close the old ledger, take the new one to a temple for a Lakshmi and Ganesh puja, then invite regular customers to settle their dues and hand them sweets and a calendar in return. Many small shops in Kolkata still do it.
What is the Bengali year now?
Bengali years are counted in the Bangabda era, which runs about 593 years behind the Gregorian one. Subtract 593 from the Gregorian year once Boishakh has begun, so a Gregorian year beginning in April corresponds to that number in the Bengali calendar. The year changes on Pohela Boishakh, not on 1 January.
Is Pohela Boishakh a Hindu festival?
The new year itself is a calendar and farming event rather than a religious one, and Bengalis of all faiths keep it. The rituals attached to it vary: Hindu traders do a Lakshmi and Ganesh puja for the new ledger, while much of what happens in Dhaka and at Bengali cultural programmes is secular. Wishing any Bengali friend on the day is safe.
What do Bengalis eat on Pohela Boishakh?
In West Bengal the day is built around a home-cooked lunch: luchi with cholar dal or alur dom, shukto, a fish curry, chutney, and mishti doi, sandesh or rosogolla to finish. Panta bhat, rice soaked overnight, eaten with fried hilsa, is a Bangladeshi public custom that Indian Bengalis know about but do not usually cook at home.
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