Search engine giant Google is celebrating Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the Bangla new year, by replacing its regular home page graphic with a special doodle for the Bangladeshi surfers.

Today’s Doodle commemorates the festival of Pahela Baishakh, which falls on the first day of the Bengali calendar.

Whether at home or abroad, Bengalis worldwide warmly greet each other with, Shubho Noboborsho, the customary way to wish each other a prosperous and happy New Year.

One of the most traditional Pahela Baishakh celebrations commences after dawn underneath an ancient Banyan tree at Dhaka’s Ramna Park. Mangal Shobhajatra is a radiant carnival procession that begins at the Institute of Fine Arts at Dhaka University.

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The festive spirit blends young and old, as they wear colorful masks and parade with massive cutouts of animals as a way to symbolize Bengali cultural diversity, heritage, and identity of the people.

The nation celebrates with street parades, fairs, and grand concerts as a way to unify the Bengalis to welcome another year to come.

But this year, Pahela Boishakh, is being celebrated across the country on Wednesday without outdoor programmes for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the programmes were cancelled to avoid mass gatherings in a bid to curb the transmission of coronavirus.      

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All television channels aired a special programme in the morning to digitally celebrate the day.

Colorful figures of animals—like the Bengal tiger seen in today’s animated Doodle.

Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepage that is intended to celebrate holidays, events, achievements and people. The doodle was introduced in 1998.