Pahela Baishakh celebrated amid festivity

Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla calendar, was celebrated on Monday amid much fanfare, festivity and gaiety across the country under tight security cover. True to the centuries-old tradition, people from all walks of life gathered at different popular and historic spots in the capital and elsewhere across the country to hail the Bangla New Year 1421 with new hopes and aspirations for a better, peaceful year. The celebration of Pahela Baishakh has become an integral part of Bangali culture since it began over six centuries back. The same jubilation mood is also there in West Bengal and other Bangla-speaking parts of India as they also celebrate the Pahela Baishakh, but they do it a day later. They will celebrate the Bangla New Year on Tuesday. Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar in the 1556 of the Gregorian calendar in a bid to streamline the timing of land tax collection in the then ‘Subah Bangla’ region, the much of which falls under Bangladesh. The day was a public holiday. On the occasion, President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia issued separate messages conveying their New Year’s greetings to the people of the country and all Bangla-speaking people across the globe, according to a news agency.