The Bengali festival year traces a distinctive arc through its twelve solar months, each named for the rashi the Sun occupies, and unfolds from Naba Barsha in mid-April to Charak Puja at the year's end in mid-April the following year. The year in force is Bangabda 1433, opened on Boishakh 1 (April 14, 2026). Boishakh opens the year with Naba Barsha and the Halkhata ritual — traders' new account books, Lakshmi-Ganesh puja in shops, sweets distributed to customers, the commercial new year fused with the ceremonial. Joishtho brings Jamai Shashti, when sons-in-law are feasted and honoured. Asharh closes with Rath Yatra, the great Jagannath chariot festival whose central observance is at Puri but which resonates through every Bengali neighbourhood. Shrabon carries Jhulan Yatra (Krishna's swing festival) and Raksha Bandhan. Bhadro holds Janmashtami and Vishvakarma Puja (when artisans and factory workers worship their tools). Then Ashshin arrives — and with it, Durga Puja, the year's emotional and cultural apex. The five-day arc from Saptami through Vijaya Dashami (Bisarjan) is the event that Bengali life organises itself around, months in advance: pandal construction, thematic artworks, new clothes for everyone, family returns from across India and abroad. Immediately after, Kojagari Lakshmi Puja on Ashshin Purnima. Then Kartik brings Kali Puja (on the same Amavasya night as Diwali in north India), Bhai Phonta (Bhai Dooj equivalent), and a few weeks later Jagaddhatri Puja. The arc quiets after Kartik. Poush Sankranti in mid-January is the Pithe parban — sweet rice cakes prepared overnight and eaten throughout the day. Magh brings Saraswati Puja on Magh Shukla Panchami. Falgun's Dol Yatra (Bengali Holi, also called Dol Purnima) fills the streets with coloured powder. And Choitro closes the year with Charak Puja and Gajan, ancient Shaiva folk rituals observed across rural Bengal on Choitro Sankranti eve — the last night of the Bengali year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Bengali festivals always fall on the same Gregorian date every year?

Solar-anchored festivals are essentially fixed: Naba Barsha (Boishakh 1) always falls on April 14 (occasionally April 15 in a Gregorian leap-year adjustment). Poush Sankranti always falls on January 14 — the same day as Makar Sankranti across India, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Uttarayan in Gujarat, and Lohri in Punjab, all observing the Sun's entry into Capricorn. Most other Bengali festivals are tithi-anchored and shift annually: Durga Puja moves within a two-to-three week window in late September to mid-October; Kali Puja moves with Kartika Amavasya in October-November; Saraswati Puja shifts within late January to mid-February depending on when Magh Shukla Panchami falls. For accurate dates in a given year, use this calendar and set your city in the location bar, as tithi boundaries are sunrise-dependent.

When is Durga Puja in 2026?

Durga Puja runs across Ashshin Shukla Saptami through Vijaya Dashami. Mahalaya — the preceding Amavasya, when the Chandipath dawn broadcast marks the beginning of Devi Paksha — sets the festival countdown. In 2026, Mahalaya and the Durga Puja five-day arc fall in late September to early October; the precise Saptami date depends on when the Ashshin Shukla tithi sequence begins after Mahalaya. Check the Ashshin month view on this app for city-specific tithi boundaries. Vijaya Dashami (Bisarjan, the immersion day) is the tenth tithi of Ashshin Shukla Paksha. Kojagari Lakshmi Puja follows on the same Purnima night — so the Ashshin festival arc runs from Mahalaya through the full moon.

What is Pithe parban?

Pithe parban is the Bengali festival of sweet rice cakes, centred on Poush Sankranti (January 14) — the day the Sun enters Capricorn, shared with Makar Sankranti across India and Pongal in Tamil Nadu. In Bengali tradition the emphasis falls entirely on the pithe: dozens of varieties of sweet cakes made from rice flour, jaggery, date palm sugar (nolen gur), coconut, and milk. Family matriarchs begin preparation the night before, often making puli pithe (rice flour dumplings filled with coconut-jaggery), gokul pithe (fried rice cakes in syrup), and patishapta (crêpe-style rolls filled with coconut and khoya). The extended family gathers on the morning of Poush Sankranti to eat together. The festival marks the winter's turn and the harvest season's close — different in expression from the kite-flying of Gujarat's Uttarayan or the rice-pot-boiling of Tamil Pongal, but the same astronomical anchor.

What is the difference between Lakshmi Puja and Kojagari, and how is it different from Diwali?

Kojagari Lakshmi Puja is the Bengali name for the Lakshmi Puja observed on Ashshin Purnima — the full moon of Bengali month Ashshin (Ashvina), immediately after Vijaya Dashami (the last day of Durga Puja). Families welcome Lakshmi by lighting clay lamps, drawing alpana (floor patterns), and offering sweets, fruits, and lotus flowers. 'Kojagari' means 'who is awake?' — a reference to the belief that Lakshmi visits only those households where the lamps burn through the night. This is entirely distinct from the Lakshmi Puja observed in North and West India on Kartika Amavasya (Diwali night). Bengal observes Kali Puja on that same Kartika Amavasya night — the night that north India lights lamps for Lakshmi, Bengal lights them for Kali. These are two different festivals on two different tithis, separated by about two weeks.

What is Charak Puja and what is Gajan?

Charak Puja is a Shaiva folk festival observed on Choitro Sankranti eve — the last day of the Bengali year, typically April 13. Devotees of Shiva undergo austerities and, in the traditional form, are suspended from the Charak tree (a vertical pole with a rotating arm) by hooks pierced through the skin and rotated. The practice is now less common in its severe form but remains symbolically observed in rural Bengal. Gajan is the broader festival cycle of Shaiva rituals in Choitro and occasionally extending into the end of Bhadro — folk performances, processions of Shiva devotees (Gambhira dancers in some areas), and rites associated with Shiva, Dharmaraj, and Nilkantha. Gajan has pre-Brahminical roots and is most intensely observed in West Bengal's rural districts. Both Charak and Gajan mark the closing of the Bengali year before Naba Barsha on Boishakh 1.

Why does the Bengali year begin on April 14 instead of January 1?

The Bengali Bangabda calendar is a solar calendar tied to Mesha sankranti — the Sun's entry into Aries (Mesha rashi). This is the same astronomical anchor as Tamil Puthandu and Punjabi Vaisakhi, which fall on the same day. The Gregorian January 1 has no astrological or seasonal significance in Bengali tradition. The Mesha sankranti in mid-April marks the astronomical start of the solar year as understood in Vedic and subsequent Indian mathematical astronomy — the Sun at the vernal equinox position (accounting for ayanamsa). The Bengali new year at this point is shared by several Indian solar calendar traditions; what makes it Bangabda-specific is the epoch (starting ~593 CE) and the cultural practices — Halkhata, Mangal Shobhajatra, the spring fair — attached to Naba Barsha.