Pohela baishakh (also Pohela Boishakh) is a cultural festival that is celebrated throughout the country at the very first day of Bangla calendar. The month’s name is Baishakh, and Pohela means first. In English calendar the day is always 14th of April in Bangladesh. This is a public holiday in Bangladesh. This day is celebrated amongst all the people regardless the religion. Previously in village area people used to arrange village fair based on this day. Now that kind of village fairs are not that much seen.
But in Dhaka the celebration of Pohela Baishakh is very huge. Most of the people from Dhaka use to wear colorful dresses (although white and red is the unofficial color). They use to come in street and walk. Most of the people’s ultimate destination is to go some places where lot of other people are gathered (i.e. Dhanmondi, Dhaka University, Shahabag, Romna Park, etc). You’d see small festival court where live stage show is going on, or a mini fair is arranged. People mainly go to those places to enjoy with others. If you be in Dhaka during this particular day It would give you an idea how Bangladeshi people like to celebrate.
During the Pohela Baishakh I use to walk around the streets of Dhaka city and see the activities from other people. I love to get on top of a foot over bridge and observe people’s activity from there. I like the way they have decorated themselves with new colorful dresses. Few people prefer to wear traditional dresses (i.e. as a farmer). Girls like to buy headband that is made using flowers. I love those crown like headbands on the head of girls or women. It simply adds the color with the festival.
Lot of people are seen enjoying alone. Some are walking in a group. Sometime people from several groups join together. They blow vuvuzela (an African horn which is integrated with Bangladeshi festivals since football world cup 2010), traditional musical instruments (i.e. Dhool, Ek tara), drums, etc. The environment gets so noisy that makes sometime difficult to listen if anyone is talking. But I like the noise.
Most of the roads near festival area remains closed during Pohela Baishakh. That’s why people get freedom to walk amid of the streets. From top it looks like a flood of human in the streets of Dhaka. As you get closer to the Dhaka University you’d find the density of crowd much more. I use to go near the University area at the end of the day. They arrange lot of live performances (traditional music, band music, etc). It is not possible to listen all of them at the same time. That’s why I prefer to spend few minutes in each places.
In earlier days the village fair used to bring lot of traditional art crafts, arranged rides for people, and many more. In Dhaka city that is quite difficult to see. But you’d find few people bring those art crafts and sell to the visitors. The village fair that I used to see in my childhood is totally different the way we celebrate Pohela Baishakh in Dhaka. To me both of them are interesting and enjoyable.
As lot of people gather in one place during this festival day, that’s why it is an hunting ground for pickpocketing. That’s why you need to take good care of your pockets. Also a bad incident happened during 2015 where few girls were harassed by the mentally sick people. To avoid unwanted circumstances I’d suggest you to stay away from the too much crowded place. Better enjoy it from a bit far.
Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh. Everyday lot of visiting people from around the country and also the foreigners use to live in Dhaka. That’s why this city has all quality of hotels (including the bests from the country). If you are from outside the country then check here for the list of hotels from Dhaka.
This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://alonelytraveler.com/
