Ugadi / Gudi Padwa

Significance

The lunar New Year across the Deccan and Maharashtra, and the first day of Chaitra Navratri — a day of fresh beginnings, new calendars, and the year's first reading of the Panchang.

The story behind Ugadi / Gudi Padwa

This is held to be the day Brahma began creation, so it opens the lunar year. Ugadi (from yuga-adi, 'the start of an age') is greeted in the south with a dish that holds every taste of life at once; in Maharashtra a Gudi — a bright cloth and pot on a raised stick — is hoisted for victory and good fortune.

How Ugadi / Gudi Padwa is observed

• Hoisting the Gudi at the doorway (Maharashtra).
• Eating Ugadi pachadi — sweet, sour, salt, bitter, tangy, spicy together — for a year of all experiences met with equanimity.
• Hearing the year's Panchang predictions (Panchanga Sravanam).
• Cleaning and decorating homes with mango leaves and rangoli.

Puja Vidhi & Prayers

Watch the step-by-step puja vidhi, aarti, and prayers for Ugadi / Gudi Padwa.

Ugadi / Gudi Padwa dates (2015–2035)

Dates are computed from precise sidereal (Lahiri) astronomy for a New Delhi reference and may vary by ±1 day for some evening/midnight festivals depending on your location and regional tradition — the timings above adjust to where you are.