Pohela Boishakh 2026: January 1 is celebrated as New Year‘s Day as per the Gregorian calendar, making January the New Year’s month. However, many cultures across the world, including in India, follow different calendars and celebrate the New Year on different dates.
For Bengalis, their New Year falls in spring and is known as Noboborsho. Pohela Boisakh is the first day of Boishakh, which is the first month of the Bengali calendar. Bengalis pray, exchange wishes with loved ones, follow traditional customs, have feasts, visit fairs and more. It is a whole cultural celebration that brings people together.
Let’s look at the date and auspicious timings so that you stay on track with your Bengali New Year celebrations.
Date and time
As per Drik Panchang, the date is April 15, beginning of the Bengali ‘year’ 1433. The sankranti moment of Pohela Boishakh will begin the day prior, on Apr 14 09:39 AM. Tracing back to the origins of the Bengali calendar, King Shoshangko of ancient Bengal is believed to have introduced it. The Bengali calendar runs about 594 years behind the Gregorian calendar.
How is Pohela Boishakh celebrated?
Feasts are at the heart of the celebrations. Friends and family gather to indulge in classic Bengali cuisine, starting with breakfast staples like luchi aloo dum (a Bengali-style potato dish) or cholar dal (Bengali chana dal). Lunch turns into a grand gastronomic spread, featuring iconic dishes like shukto (bitter mixed veggies), begun/aloo bhaja (brinjal/potato fry) as starters. Then comes the star of the show, shorshe iilish (hilsa fish in mustard gravy) or Bengali meat curry, which is the Kosha mangsho. Of course, no one forgets the finishing palate cleanser, sweet- tangy chatni, before the desserts. Bengalis’ sweet tooth comes alive with favourites like mishti doi (sweet curd)/ roshogolla/ payesh (rice pudding)/ patishapta (Bengali sweet crepes)
Grandmothers also make nadus, made from coconut or jaggery. Since art is the pulse of the Bengali culture, cultural shows see plenty of footfall in the evening.
Days before Pohela Boishakh, Bengalis go for ‘marketing’ (a colloquial way of saying shopping, not your MBA marketing) and snag the best deals on clothes. On the day of the festival, people don new clothes, visit temples to begin the new year on an auspicious note and end the day on a high note with lots of ‘adda.’
