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Comparing calendars
Bengali (Bangladesh) vs Bengali (West Bengal)
One calendar until the twentieth century, two since. Bangladesh pinned its months to the Gregorian year — a reform proposed in 1966, adopted in 1987 and adjusted in 2019 — so its new year is always 14 April and its national days never move. West Bengal kept the older sidereal months, reckoned from a first-millennium model of the sun, so the same month names open up to three days later there, and the two agree on fewer than one day in five.
| Attribute | Bengali (Bangladesh) | Bengali (West Bengal) |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Solar — pinned to the Gregorian year | Solar — sidereal, by the sun of the Surya Siddhanta |
| Origin | A Bangla Academy reform proposed in 1966, adopted in 1987 and amended in 2019 | The traditional reckoning, as the panjika almanacs publish it each year |
| Year | 365 or 366 days, opening on 14 April without exception | 365 or 366 days, opening on 14 or 15 April |
| Months | 12 — six of 31 days, then five of 30, with Falgun at 29 | 12 — of 29 to 32 days, each running from one sankranti to the next |
| Week | 7 days | 7 days |
| Leap rule | Falgun gains a day in every Gregorian leap year | None as such — the months’ own varying lengths absorb the difference |
| Counts years from | The Bengali era — 593 behind the Common Era from mid-April on | The Bengali era — 593 behind the Common Era from mid-April on |
| Where it’s used | Bangladesh’s official calendar, beside the Gregorian | West Bengal, Tripura and Assam, for festivals and the cultural year |
See this moment on each: Bengali calendar, as Bangladesh keeps it · Bengali calendar, as West Bengal keeps it. Or convert a specific date into both.