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Business Insider Bangladesh

Pohela Boishakh today: All urged to celebrate it virtually amid lockdown

BI Report || BusinessInsider

Published: 08:38, 14 April 2021   Update: 19:34, 14 April 2021
Pohela Boishakh today: All urged to celebrate it virtually amid lockdown

File photo: Dance-artists are seen performing on the stage in a programme marking Pahela Baishakh in the capital UNB

Today is Pohela Boishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year 1428.

The government urged all to celebrate the day virtually amid the fresh beginning of the weeklong lockdown.

This is the second consecutive year it cancelled all outdoor celebrations centring the traditional festival to curb the coronavirus disease outbreak.

In separate messages, President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh Nationalist Party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam greeted the nation on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh.

All of them requested the people to celebrate the day staying at home amid the fresh surge in coronavirus fatalities.

The organizer of the Mangal Shobhajatra, Dhaka University said it would not bring out the procession physically on the campus due to the Covid-19 reality.

The traditional customs of Baishakhi fair and Halkhata which businesses have been observing for many decades to welcome Bangla new year are also prohibited in-persons this time.

However, the Dhaka University, Chhayanaut and other organisations will observe the symbolic Mangal Shobhajatra which will be telecasted on different television channels from the morning.

Various organizations however will also hold programmes marking the day on the online platforms.

Pohela Boishakh is one of the traditional festivals in the country, which has a pragmatic beginning.

Emperor Akbar, who developed the Bengali calendar over 400 years ago, started observing the day in his tenure to promote keeping business accounts with the calendar.

Originally, the new calendar was intended as a way to instigate uniform tax collection across the land.

This year the Pohela Boishakh comes on the first day of holy Ramadan, the fasting month for the Muslim across the world.

Nagad
Walton