Wishing all forum members a very happy Bengali New Year.

Shubho Noboborsho. :grouphug: :cheers2:

Wishing all forum members a very happy Bengali New Year.

Shubho Noboborsho. :grouphug: :cheers2:

Oh yes...shubho noboborsho to all!!:cheers:

Shubho nobo borsho!

Notun ashar alo elo notun bochor eshe
Purano shob glani je jak hawar shathe bheshe
Notun bochor asche takey jotno kore rekho
Shopno gulo shotti kore khubi bhalo theko!

Shubho Nobo Borsho!

Happy Bangla New Year to all/ shuvo noboborsho :D

শুভ নববর্ষ ১৪১৮!!

Those in BD enjoy the day, the colours and the festivity!

(Amid the extreme heat :D)

happy new year from cambodia forum, we have same new years day

^^ Thailand too right? I think its called Songkran there?

happy new year from cambodia forum, we have same new years day

Oh..thats interesting.....Happy New Year to you too my friend!:cheers:

^^ Thailand too right? I think its called Songkran there?


How interesting. I wonder why the month of April ended up being the new year's for so many countries/cultures.

Add a couple more to that: Its the Tamil new year as well as Vaisakhi which is a harvest festival for Sikhs.

This new year has a lot to do with the harvest cycle back in the day. However one thing is for sure. None of these cultures celebrate it with as much pomp and festivity as the Bengalis do. :)

Shubho Nobo Borsho y'all! I really wish I were in Dhaka now!

How interesting. I wonder why the month of April ended up being the new year's for so many countries/cultures.

That's because many of the South East Asian nations including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were ruled by Indian kings/emperors thousand years back... Infact Angkor Wat of Cambodia is the largest Hindu temple of the world..

That's because many of the South East Asian nations including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were ruled by Indian kings/emperors thousand years back... Infact Angkor Wat of Cambodia is the largest Hindu temple of the world..

Makes sense.

From Wikipedia:

The Bengali calendar is closely tied with the Hindu Vedic solar calendar, based on the Surya Siddhanta. As with many other variants of the Hindu 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, Orissa, Punjab, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Thailand.

Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a purely lunar calendar, it does not coincide with the harvest. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bengali year on the basis of the Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. The new Fasli San (agricultural year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar's ascension to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently became known as Bônggabdo or Bengali year.

Makes sense.

From Wikipedia:

......
Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a purely lunar calendar, it does not coincide with the harvest. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bengali year on the basis of the Hijri lunar and Hindu solar calendars. The new Fasli San (agricultural year) was introduced on 10/11 March 1584, but was dated from Akbar's ascension to the throne in 1556. The new year subsequently became known as Bônggabdo or Bengali year.


The current Hijri year is 1432 which is pretty close to the Bangla 1418. I wonder what event happened in the 600-700 AD period that started the Bangla calendar. If it's based on the Hindu Solar calendar, I'd think it would be even older than the Gregorian calendar as Hinduism precedes Christianity.

The current Hijri year is 1432 which is pretty close to the Bangla 1418. I wonder what event happened in the 600-700 AD period that started the Bangla calendar. If it's based on the Hindu Solar calendar, I'd think it would be even older than the Gregorian calendar as Hinduism precedes Christianity.

From Wikipedia:

"King Shoshangko of ancient Bengal, who ruled approximately between 590 CE and 625 CE, is credited with starting the Bengali era.[1] His kingdom encompassed West Bengal, Bangladesh and parts of Bihar, Orissa and Assam. The starting point of the Bengali era is estimated to be on Monday, 12 April 594 in the Julian Calendar and Monday, 14 April 594 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar."

What I don't understand is if this calendar was created by the Mughals, why did it only apply to Bengal? What was wrong with just using the exiting Hindu calendar? The modern Christian calendar is the same as the pagan Roman calendar (they just needed to add months).