A wall painting in Dhaka during the Bengali New Year
As per the Gregorian calendar we are habituated to celebrate the new year on January 1st. As a result, many people become surprised when they hear about the new year celebration in many countries in South and South East Asia. But this is very much true that many countries of this region celebrate their traditional new year in April, specially from April 12 to 15, every year.
Why mid of April became new year
Most of the countries in South and South East Asia are based on agriculture. People follow their traditional calendar cultivating paddy. During the mid of April, normally the people in these two regions start harvesting paddy. People love to celebrate and welcome new crops to home. There may have some historical, traditional, cultural, and religious reasons of celebrating new year in mid of April each year.
Which countries celebrate New Year in April?
Many countries of South and South East Asia celebrate new year in April with different names. Ways of celebrations also vary from country to country. Let’s the countries celebrating new year in April.
Bangladesh: In Bangladesh people celebrate Bengali new year on 14th April. It is known as Pohela Boishakh.
Cambodia: Choul Chnam Thmey or Moha Sangkran is celebrated as new in Cambodia.
India: Several Indian states new year in April. West Bengal celebrate the new year on 14th April with the name Pohela Boishakh. Tamil Nadu celebrate new year with the name Puthandu. Punjab celebrates new year on 14th April with the name Vaisakhi. In Assam it is normally known as Bihu. Pana Sankranti is the new year in the Indian state of Odisha and celebrated on 14th April. The Dorga people in Himachal Pradesh, Manipur state also celebrate new year in 14th April. In Kerala it is known as Vishu.
Laos: On 14th April Laos celebrates its traditional new year Pi Mai.
Myanmar: in Myanmar (Burma) it is known as Thingyan and celebrated from 13 to 16 April.
Nepal: Nepal celebrates its traditional new year in April. The date belongs between 12 to 15 of April.
Sri Lanka: The new year celebration in Sri Lanka is known as Aluth Avurudda. It is celebrated on April 14 or 15.
Thailand: Thailand celebrates its traditional new year on 14th April and it is known as Songkran.
Dai people in the Chinese province of Yunnan also celebrate new year in April. So, we can a that a large part of this region celebrates new year in April.
New year in April Challenge: (#NewYearinApril).
As we have many prominent local guides from the regions where traditional new year is celebrated in April. You are invited to write and share your new year traditions with us. You can write on anything related with your traditional new year. You can write about new year foods, drinks, games, cultural activities, religious activities etc. You can write about Anything related with the April or other traditional new year in your country. Please use the hashtag #NewYearinApril (new year in April) in your post. If you want, you can write more than one post.
We like to invite all the Local Guides of South Asia and South East Asia to take part in this challenge. If you are interested to write about your traditional new year, out of these two regions, you are also very much welcome to write and share. I like to invite some of out active Local Guides to take part in this challenge specially: @Sophia_Cambodia (Cambodia), @Ant_Bad_Yogi (Thailand), @RosyKohli , @Smita_Patil , @BijohnAdams , @TravellerG (all from India), @ravindus ,(Sri Lanka), @KashifMisidia (Pakistan), @Amiran (Iran). All LGs from Bangladesh and West Bengal are also highly requested to participate.
