Bengali calendar

The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar (বঙ্গাব্দ Bônggabdô or Banggabda) is a solar calendar used in the region of Bengal. A revised version of the calendar is the national and official calendar in Bangladesh and an earlier version of the calendar is followed in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. The New Year in the Bengali calendar is known as Pôhela Bôishakh.

The Bengali Era (BS) or the Bengali year (বাংলা সন Bangla Sôn, বাংলা সাল Bangla sal) is 594 less than the AD or CE year in the Gregorian calendar if it is before Pôhela Bôishakh, or 593 less if after Pôhela Bôishakh.

The revised version of the Bengali calendar was officially adopted in Bangladesh in 1987. However, it is not followed in India where the unrevised (non-revised) traditional version continues to be followed due to occurrence of Hindu festivals based on a particular lunar day.

History

The Bengali calendar is a solar calendar.

The origin of Bônggabdô or Bengali Year (Bangla Year) is debated, with primarily two hypotheses. The development of the Bengali calendar is often attributed to King of Gour, Shashanka as the starting date (12 or 14 April 594 CE) falls squarely within his reign. The solar calendar is based on the Surya Siddhanta, a Sanskrit astronomical text.

New Year

New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, today mostly in use, falls on 1 January (New Year's Day), as was the case both in the old Roman calendar (at least after about 713 BCE) and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it. The order of months was January to December in the Old Roman calendar during the reign of King Numa Pompilius in about 700 BCE, according to Plutarch and Macrobius, and has been in continuous use since that time. Many countries, such as the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the United States, mark 1 January as a national holiday.

During the Middle Ages in western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, authorities moved New Year's Day variously, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, among them: 1 March, 25 March, Easter, 1 September, and 25 December. These New Year's Day changes generally reverted to using January 1 before or during the various local adoptions of the Gregorian calendar, beginning in 1582. The change from March 25 – Lady Day, one of the four quarter days – to January 1 took place in Scotland in 1600, before the ascension of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 and well before the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. In England and Wales (and in all British dominions, including Britain's American colonies), 1751 began on March 25 and lasted 282 days, and 1752 began on January 1. For more information about the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar and the effect on the dating of historical events etc., see Old Style and New Style dates.

Pohela Boishakh

Poila Boishakh (Bengali: পয়লা বৈশাখ, or Bengali New Year Bengali: বাংলা নববর্ষ, Bangla Nôbobôrsho) is the first day of the Bengali calendar, celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and on 15 April in the Indian state of West Bengal by the Bengali people and also by minor Bengali communities in other Indian states, including Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand and Orrisa. It coincides with the New Year's days of numerous Southern Asian calendars like Tamil new year Puthandu. The traditional greeting for Bengali New Year is শুভ নববর্ষ "Shubhô Nôbobôrsho" which is literally "Happy New Year".

Names

In Bengali, Poila (Bengali: পয়লা) stands for ‘first’ and Boishakh (Bengali: বৈশাখ) is the first month of the Bengali calendar. Bengali New Year was referred to in Bengali as "New Year" (Bengali: নববর্ষ Noboborsho) or "First of Boishakh" (Bengali: পহেলা বৈশাখ Pôhela Boishakh).

History

The Bengali calendar is tied to the Indian solar calendar, based on the Surya Siddhanta. As with many other variants of the Indian solar calendar, the Bengali calendar commences in mid-April of the Gregorian year. The first day of the Bengali year therefore coincides with the mid-April new year in Mithila, Assam, Burma, Cambodia, Kerala, Manipur, Nepal, Odisha, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Thailand.

Rabindra Sangeet

Rabindra Sangeet (Bengali: রবীন্দ্রসঙ্গীত Robindro shonggit, Bengali pronunciation: [ɾobind̪ɾo ʃoŋɡit̪]), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. They have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India and Bangladesh. It is characterised by its distinctive rendition while singing which includes a significant amount of ornamentation like meend, murki, etc. and is filled with expressions of romanticism. The music is mostly based on Hindustani classical music and folk music of Bengal.

History

Brief history of Bengal

After the decisive victory of the British East India Company in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, they became the rulers of Bengal. The Nawabs had almost no practical power of their own. Under the British rule, the lifestyle of the people of Bengal started to change gradually. People of Calcutta had enough money at this time and they were desirous for entertainment. In 1779, Calcutta's first theatre was established which emulated European theatres of the era. Music listening, learning and cultivating European music styles and performance practices began around that time.

Bengali

Bengali may refer to something of, from, or related to Bengal, a region in the north-eastern part of South Asia including:

Other uses

See also