Boishakh (, ne, बैशाख, ''Bôishakh'', ''Baishakh'') is the first month in the

Assamese calendar The Assamese Calendar ( as, ভাস্কৰাব্দ, , Bhāskarābda) is a luni-solar calendar, followed in the Indian state of Assam. The New Year in the Assamese calendar is known as ''Bohag Bihu''. The calendar is counted from the date o ...

Bengali calendar The Bengali Calendar or Bangla Calendar ( bn, বঙ্গাব্দ , , Baṅgābda), colloquially ( bn, বাংলা সন, Baṅgla Śon), is a solar calendar used in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. A revised version of t ...

and

Nepali calendar Nepali calendar can refer to: * Vikram Samvat, the official calendar in Nepal * Nepal Sambat Nepal Sambat, also spelled as Nepala Sambata, (Nepal Bhasa: , Nepali: ) is the lunisolar calendar used by the Newari people of Nepal. The Calendar era ...

. This month lies between the second half of April and the first half of May.

Etymology

The name of the month is derived from the position of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

near the star Bishakha ().

History

The first day of Boishakh is celebrated as the Pôhela Bôishakh or Bengali New Year's Day. The day is observed with cultural programs, festivals and carnivals all around the country. The day of is also the beginning of all business activities in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and neighboring Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

and

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

. The traders starts new fiscal account book called ''Halkhata''. The accounting in the ''Halkhata'' begins only after this day. It is celebrated with sweets and gifts with customers.

Season

The month of Boishakh also marks the official start of Summer. The month is notorious for the afternoon storms called Kalboishakhi (''Nor'wester''). The storms usually start with strong gusts from the north-western direction at the end of a hot day and cause widespread destruction.

Agriculture

Boishakh is the month when many of the seasonal fruits, especially

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...

, and

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

become available. Green unripe mangoes are a particular delicacy of the month.

Observances marked (per official use in Bangladesh)

* Boishakh 1 -

Pahela Baishakh Pohela Boishakh ( bn, পহেলা বৈশাখ) is the first day of the Bengali calendar which is also the official calendar of Bangladesh. This festival is celebrated on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April in the Indian states of W ...

* Boishakh 2 -

Jackie Robinson Day Jackie Robinson Day is a traditional event which occurs annually on April 15 in Major League Baseball (MLB), commemorating and honoring the day Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. Celebrated at MLB ballparks, on that one day, all player ...

* Boishakh 18 -

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

* Boishakh 25 -

Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

* Boishakh 26 -

Victory Day (9 May) etc. , nickname = , observedby = Russia and some former states of Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact; Serbia, Israel , duration = 1 day , frequency = Annual , date = 9 May , scheduling = same day each year , celebrations ...

* Last Saturday of Boishakh - United States Armed Forces Day

References

Months of the Bengali calendar Nepali calendar {{Nepal-stub