DHAKA, April 14 (Xinhua) — Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi people wearing masks and traditional dress Tuesday morning joined the colorful Mangal Shobha Jatra procession in the capital Dhaka to welcome the Bengali New Year with good spirits.

They carried large symbolic figures of a fish, a horse, a tiger and an elephant all made from bamboo.

Students from Dhaka University’s Fine Arts Institute made the figurines to use in the city’s main new year parade.

This year’s procession theme is “Onek Alo Jaalte Hobe Moner Ondhokare” (burn many lights in the darkness of hearts). It was chosen following the recent killings of blogger and writer Avijit Roy and online activist Oyasiqur Rah.

A 6-meter-tall statue symbolizing the rise of communal forces was showcased in the procession with a call to eliminate evil forces.

This year’s procession is the 27th that the students of Dhaka University have coordinated to welcome the Bengali New Year.

In Bangladesh, Pohela Boishakh, or the first day of the New Year, is a national holiday.

Millions of people, irrespective of caste, color, sex and religion, celebrate the Bengali New Year, which falls on April 14, with a combination of traditional and modern practices.

Even boys and girls, who came with their parents covered their heads and foreheads in the national flag and wore colorful traditional dresses.

“I am so glad to be a part of the main New Year procession this time,” said a little boy Rony who also ate panta-bhat or leftover rice soaked in water.

Like the boy and his family members, many were seen eating traditional food on Tuesday morning.

Bengalis usually start the day with the traditional simple breakfast of panta-bhat and fried hilsa fish.

Celebration of the Bengali New Year begins at sunrise when people wearing new dresses gather in the main venues around the Dhaka University.

The whole area surrounding Dhaka University is decorated with festoons, banners, walls and the roads are painted with the Bangla alphabet.

As with previous years, the walls on the Dhaka University campus in front of the Fine Arts Institute have been painted.

A very popular song, Esho hey Boishakh, is being played repeatedly at many cultural gatherings throughout as part of the new year celebration.

“We always love to join the New Year programs because they inspires the peaceful coexistence of religions,” said Asad Mia, a school teacher.

Moguhal Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar year and the celebration of Pahela Baishakh, marking the advent of the Bengali New Year, which is now considered as an integral part of the Bengali’s cultural heritage and tradition.

The Mughal Dynasty ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for three centuries (1526-1707).

The Bengali New Year coincides with the mid-April New Year in Cambodia and a number of countries in the Indian subcontinent that include parts of India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

In Bangladesh, lifestyle of rural and ancient Bengalese are specially showcased in almost all the New Year fairs which also see traditional folk songs and plays performed on stage.

Hundreds of Boishakhi Fairs have been organized in many parts of Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

Over the weekend, city residents have been swarming to shopping malls and marketplaces causing a huge traffic gridlock in major roads in the city.

Many were also seen busy buying cakes, sweets and fruits for their near and dear ones “to sweeten the mood” during the celebrations on Tuesday.

Security has been beefed up in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country to prevent terrorist attacks like that of 2001 in Dhaka’s lush green Ramna Park, where an explosion killed 10 people and injured dozens.