'Poila Boishakh', the New Year, is celebrated in which state?

Poila Boishakh (also spelt Pohela Boishakh) is the Bengali New Year, celebrated on the first day of the Bengali month of Boishakh, usually on 14 or 15 April. It is celebrated in West Bengal, Tripura and parts of Assam (Barak valley), and is a national holiday in Bangladesh.

On Poila Boishakh, people wake up early, bathe, wear new clothes and visit temples. Homes are cleaned and decorated with alpana (designs drawn with rice paste) at the entrance. Families prepare special Bengali dishes and sweets, and people greet each other with "Shubho Noboborsho" (Happy New Year). Cultural programmes, music and dance performances and fairs (Boishakhi Melas) are held in many places, and Rabindra Sangeet songs, especially "Esho he Boishakh" by Rabindranath Tagore, are sung to welcome the new year.

For traders and businessmen, Poila Boishakh is especially important. On this day, they begin new account books, a custom called "Haal Khata". Shops are decorated, and customers are invited and offered sweets. Many people also worship Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi for success in the new year.

In Bangladesh, the day is celebrated with the "Mangal Shobhajatra", a colourful procession with masks and large figures, organised by the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Dhaka, which was inscribed by UNESCO on its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016.

The Bengali calendar (Bangabda) is believed to have been reformed under the Mughal emperor Akbar, to make the collection of land revenue easier after the harvest, although some traditions link it to the earlier king Shashanka.

Poila Boishakh falls on the same day as other solar New Year festivals, such as Baisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu, Bohag Bihu and Pana Sankranti.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Odisha celebrates its New Year as Pana Sankranti.
• ✗Assam celebrates its New Year as Rongali (Bohag) Bihu.
• ✗Bihar (Mithila) celebrates its New Year as Jur Sital.