By Qasem Mahmud

DHAKA, April 12, 2025 (BSS) - Halkhata is a Bengali tradition of opening new ledger books for account-keeping on Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bengali New Year.

It's a symbolic act of starting the new year with fresh financial records.

While the tradition is fading in some areas due to modern bookkeeping practices, it remains a significant part of Bengali culture and is particularly associated with the celebrations of Pohela Boishakh.

Chaitra Sankranti and Pohela Boishakh are the priceless cherished traditions and history of the Bengali's centuries-old cultural character.

Like every year, Chaitra Sankranti and Pohela Boishakh are knocking at the door of the Bengali New Year again.
Next Sunday, April 13 is Chaitra Sankranti of the outgoing Bengali year. The next day, Monday, April 14 is the Bengali New Year, Pohela Boishakh. Especially for those who are businessmen, the significance of these two days is immense. They conclude the transactions of the outgoing year on Chaitra Sankranti.

The 'update' of the account is 'halkhata'. For hundreds of years, 'halkhata' has traditionally been a sacred ledger for businessmen.

It is a ledger of profit and loss, debts and expenses for the whole year. From here, the new year begins. Businessmen consider their business sacred and cherish it with prayers. This traditional 'halkhata' ceremony is inextricably linked with the Bengali New Year. So, it is an integral part of the Bengali tradition, history and culture.

Although the pomp and showiness of this traditional festival has declined with the evolution of society, it still survives in its own glory. Because 'halkhata' is tied to the roots of Bengali traders.

In general, 'halkhata' is a ledger for writing new accounts in the New Year. The new ledger is usually wrapped in lalsalu (red cloth).
 
Halkhata is a traditional custom practiced among businessmen on the first day of the Bengali New Year.

On this day, traders update their old accounts and start new ones. On this occasion, traders invite customers and wish them a happy new year.
Although Halkhata is originally a commercial custom, it has become a social custom over time. In fact, this day creates an opportunity to further strengthen the business relationship between buyers and sellers.

After completing the accounts on the last day of the month of Chaitra, a good meal is arranged in every family. Family members wear new clothes and enjoy the festival.

Although 'Halkhata' has been one of the centuries-old parts of Bengali culture, technology has recently put a damper on that.

In this era of modern information and communication technology, the splendor of Halkhata has diminished due to various apps and online shopping.

Banks, insurance and corporate offices have become computer-dependent instead of large khatas.

Despite all this, the tradition of starting Halkhata on the first day of the New Year has not ended in Bengali culture. However, with time, the Halkhata festival has become trivial. Gold traders in Tanti Bazar, Laxmi Bazar and Shankhari Bazar in the capital Dhaka still hold 'Halkhata' on a small scale to maintain this tradition.

Traders in Banglabazar and Islampur in Old Dhaka said that they celebrate Halkhata in the joy of the festival.

Traders start keeping accounts in red-wrapped ledgers from the first day of Bengali New Year.

Islampur businessman Moniruzzaman told BSS that once upon a time, people had little cash in their hands.

At that time, people used to buy essential goods with their balance, and Halkhata was used to collect the money for that balance.

We still maintain Halkhata with our customers throughout the year.

However, this old tradition has changed somewhat. Now, even if people do not have money, they have alternative bank cards and mobile phone banking, as a result, they no longer have to pay the balance like before.

And even if they do, the bill is paid through bKash-Nagad or card.

For this, customers do not have to come to the shop. As a result, the usefulness of Halkhata tied in Lalsalu is decreasing.

Businessman Idrich Mia of Khatunganj, known as the heart of Chittagong's trade, said, "The business and Halkhata are the tradition of our ancestors. To maintain that continuity, we are still observing Halkhata.

However, this year, Halkhata is being observed on a limited scale due to the Eid holidays.

He said, many buyers have gone to their villages during the Eid holidays, so they could not even come to Halkhata.

He said, "Our new generation does not know what Halkhata is. They celebrate the new year on Pohela Boishakh."

"They hold processions. They go to day-long fairs. They depict Bengali culture in their costumes. If asked what Halkhata is. Is it a special type of Khata? What is done in this Khata? From when did this traditional custom become popular? They cannot answer," he added.

They have become dependent on mobile, internet, and computers. They celebrate Pohela Boishakh. But they do not search for its roots.

Reviewing historical documents, it is known that after the Mughal Emperor Akbar ascended the throne in 1556, he tried to establish a uniform calendar for the collection of taxes in the provinces. According to the lunar year, there was a lot of difference in the days with the solar year.

As a result, it was not possible to fix a specific day for collecting the annual revenue according to the lunar year.

At that time, revenue was collected on crops. In some years, the day for paying taxes would arrive before the crops were harvested.

Due to this, the subjects faced difficulties in paying taxes. Emperor Akbar started thinking of introducing a new year to remove this difficulty for the common people.

When Emperor Akbar assumed power in 1556, the Hijri year was 963. And from this year onwards, he changed the Hijri year to the solar year and introduced the Bengali year.

Initially, this year was named the Harvest Year. Later, it was known as Bangabda or Bengali New Year.

Then, on the last day of the month of Chaitra (Chaitra Sankranti), the landlords would collect agricultural and revenue taxes or rent from their subjects.
At that time, all rents, fees or taxes were paid by the last day of every Chaitra month.

The next day, on the first day of Boishakh, the landowners used to entertain the subjects or residents of their region with sweets, desserts, betel leaves, etc. This came to be known as 'Halkhata' over time. At that time, Bengali Muslims used to write 'Bismillahir Rahmanihir Rahim' or 'Elahi Bharsa' on the first page of the ledger. The word 'Hal' comes from the Persian language. The Persian word 'Hal' means 'new'.

The traditional Halkhata has declined in the digital age. With the touch of technology around us, computers, laptops and apps, the practice of handwritten ledgers has almost disappeared. As a result, it is not often seen that businessmen open new Talikhatas on the first day of the Bengali year.
However, to preserve the tradition, many businessmen in the capital still celebrate Halkhata festivals to maintain the tradition.

This Halkhata festival is basically held on the first, second or third day of the month of Baishakh.

On this day, after making customers happy, the transactions of the old year are settled and a new account is opened for the new year. Thus the updating of the Halkhata begins.