Bangla calendar and Pahela Boishakh

Life is a ceaseless voyage over time – from the cradle to the grave; but the starting point of the cosmic phenomenon called time is still a mystery. Some people claim that it started with the big bang of creation. Others hold the view that time has no beginning or end, or in other words it is eternal. In the poem “Time, You Old Gypsy Man”, the poet Ralph Hodgson even pleads with time – personified as a restless gypsy, to pause and stay for just one day, offering lavish gifts in return. Time flows ceaselessly like a stream, but does not hold on to anything for even a moment, let alone an hour, day, week, or month.

Humans have measured time in multifarious ways through the ages since the dawn of civilisation. They did this by observing perceptible changes in weather and climate as well as by judging from the appearances of the sun and moon. With the passage of time appeared various time-measuring devices like the sun-dial, the sand-pitcher, pendulum clock, time-pieces, and wrist watches. In recent times, there has been amazing advances in the measurement of time due to a quantum leap in electronics and technological innovations. But the concept still remains as mysterious and ethereal as ever.

Historians claim that during the ancient era, time was considered to be a cycle of natural events in regular sequence or seasons, marked by the appearances of the sun, moon, and other celestial objects. The Egyptians had developed a lunar calendar, and after thatemerged the Babylonian, Hebrew, Greek, Roman, the Islamic or Hijri, and the Gregorian calendar. Many civilisations used lunar, solar, and civic calendars simultaneously. The ancient Chinese people maintained two completely separate systems – one meant for the illiterate peasants and the other for the literate officials. The great mystic poet, astronomer, philosopher, and mathematician of Persia known as Omar Khayyam (1048-1131 AD) introduced a corrected form of calendar called ‘Jalali Calendar’. It showed an error of only one day in 3,333 years, whereas the commonly used Gregorian calendar lagged behind by one day in 555 years. 

The great Mughal emperor Akbar (1542-1605) once asked a scholar, philosopher and astronomer named Amir Fateh Ullah Siraji to devise a calendar for different regions of the Indian subcontinent, in order to facilitate the collection of rent or wheat from the peasants. Siraji then developed the ‘Fasali’ or ‘Mousumi’ calendar for various regions of the subcontinent. The beginning of the new calendar was set from the year of Akbar’s ascension to the throne of Delhi (963 Hijri; 1556 AD). According to Prof Abul Talib, the twelve months of the Bangla calendar were originally given Persian names, but these were later named after eight stars and four other phenomena. The names of Bangla months that are in vogue today originated from the words: Bishakha, Jyestha, Asharha, Shravana, Bhadrapada, Ashwini, Krittika, Agrahayana, Pushya, Magha, Falguni, and Chitra. The Hindu calendar ‘Shakabda’ has almost similarly spelt months, viz Baishakh, Jeth, Asharh, Shaon, Bhadon, Kunwar, Kartik, Aghan, Poush, Magh, Fagun, and Choit. 

The Bangla Academy had constituted a committee headed by Dr Muhammad Shahidullah back in 1966 to reform the Bangla calendar. The committee recommended that the Bangla calendar should conform to the one introduced by Emperor Akbar; the first five months (Boishakh to Bhadra) should have 31 days each, while the remaining seven months (Ashwin to Chaitra) should be of 30 days duration. As for the leap year, the committee recommended that the years divisible by four would be leap years.

Although today’s civilised world mostly follows the Gregorian calendar for identifying the days, weeks, and months in a year, yet in rural Bangladesh, the Fasali or Bangla calendar introduced by Akbar dominates the rural landscape. Despite two centuries of British colonial rule, the Bangla calendar has survived and still occupies a permanent place in the lives of the Bangladeshi peasantry– who work very hard in crop-fields and agricultural terrains of villages in order to feed their better-off compatriots in towns and cities. In fact, the everyday life of our rural populationis inseparable from this calendar. From the sowing of seeds to harvesting of crops, everything is usually done in accordance with the days and months of the Bangla calendar.

The peasants sow seeds in the last month of the calendar called ‘Chaitra’. They then weed out wild plants in the sweltering heat of the first month ‘Boishakh’, when occasional hailstorms strike. The countrymen feast on fruits like mango, jackfruit, pineapple, blackberry, litchi and other summer fruits in the second month of the Bangla calendar called ‘Jaishtha’. The people watch the dark clouds of rain above their heads during the third and fourth months of ‘Asharh’ and ‘Srabon’, when the rains fall incessantly and fill up ponds and marshes that spill over all around – turning the whole landscape into a vast sheet of water interspersed with island-like villages. Every few years, a deluge of flood visits the country during this monsoon season, which devastates crops and destroys settlements.

The weather somewhat brightens with a mostly blue sky during the fifth month of ‘Bhadra’ and the sixth month ‘Ashwin’. There is a soothing softness all around and snow-white clouds waft across the sky as the farmers harvest jute and ‘Aus’ paddy that provide them much relief. This autumnal harvest enables them to keep their hunger at bay during the barren seventh month of ‘Kartik’. As the eighth month ‘Agrahayan’ arrives, the sweetness of autumn engulfs the ploughmen, who enthusiastically engagein harvesting the ‘Aman’ paddy for feeding their countrymen. This is followed by the ninth and tenth months of ‘Poush’ and ‘Magh’, when a moderately cold weather persists across the country. This winter season is the time for ‘pithapuli’ or homemade sweets and cakes like ‘malpoa’, ‘patisapta’, ‘dhupi’, ‘phool-pitha’, ‘mukh-pila’, ‘chhana malpoa’, ‘madhubhat’, ‘jala-pitha’, ‘chitoi’ and many other mouth-watering confectionery items. However, not many can satisfy their palate with these delicious dishes because of poverty. Last of all comes the springtime months of ‘Falgun’ and ‘Chaitra’, when there is a resurgence of life as the flowers blossom across the country and the trees and plants get covered with greenery.

The first day of Boishakh or Pahela Boishakh is known as the Naba-barsha or the New Year’s Day, according to Bangla calendar. The day is celebrated across Bangladesh with festive merriment and traditional fervour. In his poem, the poet Rabindranath Thakur commended the month of Boishakh for its power of obliterating the worn-out and rotten, and for sanctifying the earth. Even in the countryside, the rural folks welcome the new year – at least in spirit, if not in letter. And for the urbanites and culture-conscious city-dwellers, Pahela Boishakh is an occasion for homecoming and basking in indigenous culture cum traditions.

Despite the woes of our simple-natured villagers and rural folks, they usually greet the Naba-barsha with ‘Aam-pani’, whereby uncooked rice soaked overnight in a clay-pot along-with tender offshoot of mango is eaten by the whole family as an auspicious breakfast. This custom is still in vogue in many areas of the country. Besides, ‘Hal-khata’ or opening of the new book of accounts is undertaken by most traders, who also entertain their customers with sweets.

A common feature of Pahela Boishakh since the medieval era has been the holding of local fairs all over the country. The weeklong fair at Nekmardan of Dinajpur district deserve special mention, as it is attended by many craftsmen and artisans of northern Bangladesh, and numerous products of varied description are sold there. While cattle-race is also common everywhere, ‘Boli-khela’ or wrestling competition is confined to Chattogram only. The most famous competition of this genre called ‘Jabbarer Boli-khela’ was introduced by one Abdul Jabbar Sawdagar back in 1909. A month-long fair is organized on the occasion, which is attended by innumerable sports-lovers from across the country.

The Zamindars were the main sponsors of the ‘Boishakhi Mela’ or fairs in the past. These fairs, organised on the occasion of Bangla New Year, were open to all, and were secular and universal in character, which still appears to be the case. The farmers used to bring agricultural commodities, the artisans brought handicrafts and toys, the weavers displayed woven apparels, and the confectioner brought sweetmeats for both display and sale in the fair. The fair-site reverberated with the sound of drums and songs, the circus party presented stunts for the spectators, and the clowns moved around for making the audience laugh. Besides, there were rides and magic shows for children, and even livestock for sale.

However, these programs were mostly discontinued after the abolition of the Zamindari system in 1950, although a few tribal kings (Rajas) still organise the ‘Raj Punyah’ in their royal households of Chattogram Hill Tracts – coinciding with their ‘Boisabi’ (‘Boisuk’ of Tripura community in Khagrachhari, ‘Sangrai’ of Marmas in Bandarban, and ‘Biju’ of Chakmas in Rangamati) festival. But the ‘Boishakhi Mela’ or fair and ‘Hal-khata Festival’ still takes place in most urban areas of Bangladesh.

A special kind of song called ‘Gambhira’ in the Rajshahi region stands out for its specialty and social impact. These satirical songsare a living tradition that upholds the democratic spirit. The eminent researcher and scholar late Dr Enamul Huq described a first-hand experience of attending a PahelaBoishakh programme in 1944, where a polygamist and alcohol-addict (holding the office of vice-chairman of Maldaha municipality), was ridiculed and hooted by the rural Gambhira singers in his very presence. There was another interesting incident at Rajshahi in 1974, as reported by the late journalist AUM Fakhruddin (former Assistant Editor of The Bangladesh Times and The Independent), where a session of Gambhira songs hurled diatribes and harsh criticisms against the then autocratic regimein presence of the head of state of Bangladesh.

The embracing of the Bangla New Year by the Bangladeshi people in a festive atmosphere appears to be a reflection of their expectation that the remaining days of the year would also be spent in joy and mirth as an extension of the first day’s festivity. The masses seem to seek and invoke a good omen through the Boishakhi celebrations. The religious-minded people of Bangladesh tend to show moderation in their celebrations and also attempt to express sympathy and empathy for their poorer compatriots on this joyful occasion. ‘ShubhoNababarsha’.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly; Email:hahmed1960@gmail.com