New year celebrated in Bengal

Kolkata, Apr 15 (UNI) Bengali delicacies like prawn malaikari, luchi, Hilsha and rossogolla, new dresses, Hal Khata (new acounting books in the shops) and enchanting notes of Rabindra sangeet could best sum up the beginning of new year "Poila Boishakh" in Bengal today.

" Panta Bhat (last night's cooked rice with water) fried Hilsa were the best delicacies among the traditionalists in the celebration.

Greeting the new year of 1414, the people across the state celebrated the day with religious fervour and gaeity.

People, wearing new clothes, thronged the temples--particularly at Kalighat and Dhakshinewar--to offer prayers.

People exchanged greetings and distributed sweets.

The day was celebrated through various cultural programmes, some of them by the state Information and Culture Ministry at Rabindra sadan.

Men wore traditional attires, 'dhooti' and 'punjabis', while women folk dressed in sarees went out with their families.

Business community, traders and the shop owners also started their new accounting books, 'Hal Khata', today. They went to temples to offer prayers before the start of new "khatas" and distributed sweets among the customers.

People made long queues in the market and sweet shops. The sweet shops ran out stock in the first hours of the day. The restaurants made a gala business offering speciality Bengali delicacies to celebrate the occasion.

UNI