Pohela Falgun

For the festival of West Bengal, see Basanta Utsab.

Pohela Falgun (Bengali: পহেলা ফাল্গুন or পয়লা ফাল্গুন) is a festival observed on the first day of Spring of the Bengali month of Falgun in Bangladesh.^[1] The celebration was started in 1991 by students of Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts.^[2] Before 2019, the first day of Falgun fell on 13 February in the Gregorian calendar;^[3] however, from 2020 onward, due to revisions to the Bangladeshi calendar, Pohela Falgun has been celebrated on 14 February, coinciding with Valentine's Day in the country.^[4] On this day, Bengalis are seen to wear traditional clothes consisting of yellow, red, and even shades of orange. Some women also prefer to wear bangles and floral ornaments.

Woman in red and yellow sari dancing in the Pahela Falgun festival

Etymology

In Bengali, Pohela stands for 'first' and 'Falgun' is the eleventh month of the Bengali calendar.

See also

• Pohela Boishakh
• Culture of Bangladesh
• Festivals of Bangladesh
• Festivals of West Bengal