The nation yesterday said goodbye to Bengali year 1420 and celebrated Pahela Boishakh amid customary festivities to welcome the new year.
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, including women and children, came out on the streets in celebration of the day, also a public holiday. Wearing traditional clothes, they gathered in different places in the capital and elsewhere to observe the day with fun, merriment and joy.
People in large numbers thronged Ramna Batamul in the capital where cultural programmes were arranged. Since the morning, different cultural organisations and artistes performed there.
A longstanding custom of celebrating one of the most colourful festivals of the country is to eat “panta bhat” (watered rice) with ilish fish, green chilli and onion. People were seen taking the food usually in makeshift stalls set up in different places. Many, especially children, had the country’s map and other emblems painted in their cheeks.
Mongol Shobhajatra, the traditional colourful procession to celebrate Pahela Boishakh, was brought out from the Institute of Fine Arts premises at Dhaka University around 9:45am. Scores of people joined the procession and marched together.
As people were celebrating the day, security was tightened to avert any untoward situation and members of law enforcement agencies were also on alert.
State-owned BTV, Bangladesh Betar (radio), and private TV channels broadcast special programmes while newspapers also published special supplements to mark the arrival of Bangla year 1421.
