Baishakh celebrations on

Mongol Shova Jatra, a colourful rally brought out from the faculty of fine arts, marking the first day of Bangla New Year,1422. Photo: Zahidul Karim
Mongol Shova Jatra, a colourful rally brought out from the faculty of fine arts, marking the first day of Bangla New Year,1422. Photo: Zahidul Karim

The nation began celebrating Pahela Baishakh (the first day of Bangla month), 1422, with various programmes since the early morning on Tuesday.

Cultural organisation Chhayanat welcomed the new year with Tagore's songs and traditional music at Ramna Batamul, attended by tens of thousands of people attired with traditional attires on the occasion.
Cultural activists, artists and students of Faculty of Fine Arts held the Mongol Shova Jatra, the mass rally, with the theme 'Onek Alo Jalte Hobe Moner Ghore (Let's light thousand lights in the darkness of our heart)' in downtown Dhaka.
A day-long Baishakh celebration also started at Bangla Academy premises with recitation of poems, speech and cultural function.
Playwright Selim Al Deen's play 'Kittonkhola' is scheduled to be staged by Bangla department of Dhaka University in front of the Arts Faculty at 6:00pm.
Liberation War Museum, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Udichi Shilpi Gosthi and organisations have arranged various programmes to celebrate Pahela Baishakh.
Programmes to celebrate the Pahela Baishakh are also being geld in different parts of Dhaka city and across the country.
President Abdul Hamid, prime minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia issued separate messages greeting the countrymen and all Bangla-speaking people across the globe on the occasion.
Mughal Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar in 1556 to streamline the timing of land tax collection in the then ‘Subah Bangla’ region, the much of which falls under Bangladesh.