။ On Poila Boisakh : Ananda & Atantko

။ Young's procession 'Boishakhi Yatra' spotted under the AJC Bose Road flyover on Poila Boisakh day.

။ A strong metal detector checking at Kalighat temple on Poila Baisakh day.

။ Photo : Agencies

----------------------------------------------------

။ Bangla Sangeet Mela Starts at Rabindra Sadan Prangan, Besides Nandan, as like every year. Top class artists singing in Sangeet Mela, which is starts from today on the eve of Poila Baisakh. Meera Bandyapadhayay and Dwijen Mukhopadhayay inaugurate the ceremony.

---------------------------------------------

။ A young participant in a procession on Jawaharlal Nehru Road on Poila Baisakh day.

။ Photo : Indrajit Dutta

။ Welcome Bangla New Year 1416

။ The land of Bengal is replete with the histories of festivals. The age-old saying baaro maashe tero paarbon (thirteen festivities in twelve months) reminds us that there is more than one special occasion each month. From the New Year's Haal Khaata Day to the following Chaitra Sankraanti (eve of the following New Year's day), the Bengali Calendar is literally saturated with numerous Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other religious and tribal community festivals. Baishakh and Joishtho, the first two months of the Bangla year, comprise the season of "Grish-sho" or summer. The first day of Baishakh not only heralds a new year, but also the six seasons along with it. Baishakh is symbolised by Krishnachura, red coloured flower shrubs, true to the imagery of heat in summer and the delectability of the rains that follow. The songs across Bengal proclaim Baishakh's tempestuous quality of sweeping everything stale and worn out.We The Bengal Newz team wish you well and hope that you enjoy the best of what this life has to offer. Rejoice with friends and foes. This special Pahela Baishakh focus on www.bengalnewz.com is about celebration, festivity and renewal. We hope this brief glimpse of the seasons and festivals of Bengal will help you share the happiness with others. "Shubho Nababarsha” ။ Photo : Reuters

။ Nabobarsho : Celebration of the biggest Bengali carnival

။ 15 April, 2009 :
The traditional New Year platter of panta ilish, fried hilsa fish, lightly fermented rice, lentil and smoked chilli was all the rage at Rabindra Sadan-Bangla Academy premises in Kolkata.

။ Photo : Bhasa O Chetana Samity

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

။ 15 April, 2009 :
Devotees wait in a queue to offer prayers during a ritual on the first day of the Bengali New Year in 'Jalpaiguri jogamaya kali temple' (Left) and 'Kochbihar madan mohan temple'.

။ Photo : Arnab Mitra & Timir Ghosh
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carnival of millions bengali rings all over Bangladesh
Dhaka, 14 April : Millions were ringing in Pahela Baishakh, the Bengali New Year 1416, on Tuesday in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka and across the country with colour and verve.
Men in traditional punjabi and pyjama, women in white and red sari and children dressed in all hues were thronging Ramna Batamul and the traditional Baishakhi Mela from dawn in celebration of the biggest Bengali carnival. Crowds streamed through the city streets making for the leafy shade of Ramna Batamul. The traditional New Year platter of panta ilish, fried hilsa fish, lightly fermented rice, lentil and smoked chilli was all the rage.
။ Colour and culture
Cultural organisation Chhayanaut, which has been organising the day's centerpiece event since 1965, ushered in the first day of the Bangla year with songs and other performances in the cool early hours of the morning. Marchers in masks and traditional dress, mostly students of the Institute of Fine Arts, led Mongol Shobhajatra, a colourful parade seeking well-being of all, through Dhaka University campus at 8am.(BDST)
Several thousand people participated in the parade, ushering in good spirits for the New Year and vowing to defeat all ill-will. At the forefront of the parade were processionists carrying figures of the owl, tortoise, tiger and elephant as well as lakkhir sara (vessels of good fortune). The procession marched through Dhaka University campus and Ramna, with thousands of men, women and children of all ages and professions wearing colourful masks and playing flutes and other instruments.
Participants wore painted masks or carried symbolic figures to protest fundamentalism, communalism and corruption. Passengers on vehicles ranging from motorbikes to buses found themselves stuck in tailbacks to allow the passage of pedestrians along the crowded streets.
Traditional baul or folk songs and other music floated through the air at the Rabindra Sarobar amphitheatre by Dhanmondi lake, organised by Sammilito Sangskritik Jote in Dhanmondi.

။ Photo : Mustafiz Mamun

။ ။ Pahela Baishakh in Bangladesh

။ 14 April, 2009 :

< A colourful and festive procession celebrating Pahela Baishakh, the Bangla New Year, sets off from the Fine Arts Institute to wind through the capital on Tuesday.

-------------------------------

Chhayanaut's singers usher in the Bangla New Year 1416 at Ramna Batamul in Dhaka on Tuesday.

။ Photo : Nashirul Islam & Mustafiz Mamun

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

။ Bengali food festival like Kolkata for New Year revellers of Dhaka
Dhaka, 15 April : To usher in the Bengali New Year 1416, Dhaka's Hotel Sarina is holding a food and music festival from 14 to 17 April, featuring the best of Bengali cuisine.
Pahela Baishakh revellers can enjoy a range of traditional dishes along with live music between 7pm and 11pm at the hotel's Amrit Restaurant in Banani in the capital Dhaka.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

။ A member of Bangladesh security force SWAT stands guard at a rally to mark " Pahela Baishak", the first day of the Bangla New Year. Photo : AP >>>>>>>>>>>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Silk City Express makes first stop in Kamalapur
Pahela Baishakh gift in Bangladesh: Rajshahi People's 147 years wait ends
Rajshahi, 14 April : Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the Bengali calendar, has a special significance for Bangladesh Railway. Last year on this day, the Maitree Express, the first direct passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata in over 40 years, made its first journey.
This year, the Bengali New Year saw the first broad gauge train, the Silk City Express from Rajshahi, plied to and from the capital's main Kamalapur Station. "Even a couple of years back, arrival of broad gauge trains to Kamalapur station was unthinkable," Md Belayet Hossain, the Bangladesh railway's director general told reporters.

People of Rajshahi have had to wait 147 years, since the introduction of railway in Bengal by the British in 1862, to reach Dhaka's Kamalapur Station direct by broad gauge.

။ Intellectuals plan mega event to fight culture crisis

Kolkata, 12 April : Top intellectuals of the city will get together on Tuesday evening for a mega cultural event at Netaji Indoor Stadium to celebrate Poila Boishakh eve.
These intellectuals are the ones who, as representatives of the "civil society", stood by the Opposition during the Nandigram-Singur crisis and formed a forum to protest against "CPM-backed atrocities". This forum, the 'Paschim Banga Sanskritik Mancha', is once again trying to send a strong message to the ruling CPM, albeit under the garb of a cultural show.Starting from 6 pm, the show will go on till midnight, much like New Year's Eve parties on December 31 something that has perhaps not been tried out in case of Poila Boishakh yet. The event has been christened Joi Hok...Joi Hok Naba Arunodoy, which would definitely remind you of Debabrata Biswas, but it also reminds you of the song Jai Ho from the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, which is being used by all political parties as an election slogan this time.
Noted painter Shuvaprasanna is organising the event and he is being assisted by names like Bibhas Chakraborty, Bratya Basu, Saonli Mitra, Aparna Sen, Joy Goswami, singer Abhijit and Mamata Shankar, among others.

။ 'Bangla New Year 1416' Coming After A Few Days

။ Dhaka, 7 April :
Students of the 'Bangladesh Fine Arts Institute' painting clay dolls Tuesday ahead of the Bangla New Year 1416.

--------------------------------

Students of the Fine Arts Institute painting a variety of potteries called 'Sara'.
။ Photo : Firoz Ahned

။ Bengali New Year Photo Gallery

Law enforcers to ensure security on 'Pahela Baishakh'
Dhaka, 7 April : The government has planned stringent security measures in the capital Dhaka by deploying around 8, 000 security personnel on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh, the Bangla New Year, on 14 April.A Bangladesh home ministry meeting today also ordered strict surveillance by the intelligence agencies to avert any untoward incidents during the celebration hours, State Minister for Home Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj said after the meeting. Sohel Taj also said 32 close-circuit cameras will be installed in and around the main venue of the New Year celebrations; Ramna Batamul and Rabindra Sarobar. The whole security measures will be monitored from Shahbagh Police Control Room.Home Minister Sahara Khatun , Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad, Director General (DG) of Rab Hasan Mahmood Khandaker were also present at the meeting.