Poila Boishakh
Also called Pohela Boishakh, Bengali New Year, Noboborsho
When
Thursday, 15 April 2027 in 217 days
New Delhi · change location
at sunrise. This observance is governed by sankranti-instant, not by the sunrise tithi — which is why the tithi named here is often not the one the festival is named for.
See the complete panchang for that day →
Governed by sankranti-instant
Why this date?
The first day of Boishakh in the Bengali solar calendar, reckoned from the Sun's entry into Mesha. Traditions differ on which CIVIL day a sankranti belongs to. Some take the day the ingress instant falls in; others take the first day whose sunrise finds the Sun already in the new sign; the Tamil and Malayalam conventions add their own cutoffs. That is why the solar new years of different regions can land on different days in the same year even though they mark one astronomical event. The Bengali convention commonly takes the following sunrise, which is why Poila Boishakh can sit a day after the other solar new years.
- Computed by the panchanga engine for your location
- Follows a written selection rule, not a copied list
- The governing period is stated, and the rule is applied to it
- The written guide has not yet been reviewed by a named scholar
Dates come from the calculation engine and are independent of the written guide. How we calculate →
What In short
The Bengali new year. Traders open the Haal Khata — the new ledger — with a puja, and customers are invited and fed sweets. Prabhat pheri processions greet the morning; the day is kept as much culturally as religiously.
- Deity: Ganesha and Lakshmi, for the Haal Khata
Why The reason behind it
The Bengali era was fixed to the agricultural and revenue year, and the ledger is the point: the day exists to close the old accounts and open new ones with the people you trade with present. The sweets given to customers are the relationship being renewed along with the book.
Traditional basis
Bengali San era and revenue-year convention — The calendar's alignment to the agricultural and revenue year, from which the Haal Khata custom follows.
Bengal mercantile practice — The Haal Khata puja and the invitation of customers, carried by trade custom.
How At home, step by step
- Traders perform the Haal Khata puja and open the new ledger.
- Customers are invited, given sweets and their accounts settled.
- Households wear new clothes; the day begins with prabhat pheri songs.
- Panta bhaat with ilish is eaten in many homes.
What you'll need
- The new ledger, marked with a swastika
- Sweets for the customers
- Ganesha and Lakshmi images for the puja
- New clothes
Fasting and breaking the fast
Not a fasting day.
Fasting guidance here describes traditional practice. It is not medical advice — if you are pregnant, diabetic, on medication or unwell, ask a doctor about your own circumstances.
Personal In your region
- Bengal (Bengali)
Kept across West Bengal and the Bengali diaspora; the Dhaka observance has its own large public form.
For children
The Bengali new year. Shopkeepers start a brand-new account book and give sweets to everyone who comes in.
Common questions
- Why is it sometimes a day after Vishu and Baisakhi?
- Same astronomical event, different convention for which civil day owns it. The Bengali reckoning commonly takes the first sunrise after the Sun has entered Mesha, while some others take the day the entry itself falls in.
Not the same day
These fall nearby or share the tithi, and are often confused with this observance. They are separate, and this site dates them separately.
- Baisakhi
- Vishu
This guide has not yet been reviewed by a named scholar or practising priest. The dates and times on this page come from the calculation engine and are independent of it; the explanatory text is editorial and may not reflect your family's practice. Tell us if something is wrong.