Also known as: Yugadi, Chandramana Ugadi, Telugu New Year, Kannada New Year · Observed: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka
Significance of Ugadi
The word Ugadi comes from the Sanskrit yuga and adi, meaning the beginning of an age. For the Telugu and Kannada speaking communities that follow the lunar (chandramana) calendar, Ugadi is the first day of the year and the point at which a new samvatsara, one of the sixty named years of the Jovian cycle, begins. Everything associated with the day carries a sense of renewal: homes are cleaned, new clothes are worn and families look ahead to the coming twelve months.
Tradition holds that Lord Brahma began the work of creation on this day. The astronomer Bhaskaracharya also took the sunrise of Chaitra Shukla Pratipada as the starting point for calculating days, months and years, which is why the day is regarded as the natural head of the lunisolar calendar.
Legend and Tradition
The Brahma Purana is often cited for the belief that Brahma created the world on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. Another widely told account links the day to Lord Vishnu's Matsya avatara, in which the Lord rescued the Vedas from the demon Somakasura. In the Deccan, the day is also associated with the beginning of the Shalivahana Shaka era, named after the king who is remembered for his victory over invading rulers. These strands together give Ugadi its character as a festival of beginnings.
How Ugadi Is Celebrated
The day starts before sunrise with an abhyanga snanam, a bath after applying sesame oil to the body. Doorways are decorated with fresh mango leaves strung into torana, and the courtyard is washed and adorned with muggulu (rangoli). After worship of the family deity, the household eats the Ugadi Pachadi, a chutney prepared from new neem flowers, raw mango, tamarind, jaggery, salt and green chilli or pepper. Each of the six tastes stands for an experience of life: sorrow, surprise, disgust, happiness, interest and anger. Eating them together is a reminder to accept the year's mixture of joys and difficulties with an even mind.
In the evening, communities gather in temples and public halls for Panchanga Shravanam, the reading of the new year's almanac by a learned priest or astrologer. The reading covers the name of the samvatsara, the rulers of the year among the planets, expected rainfall and harvests, and general forecasts for each rashi. In Karnataka the festival is called Yugadi; the day begins with a paste of neem and jaggery called bevu-bella, and obbattu or holige, a sweet stuffed flatbread, is the festive dish. Telugu households prepare pulihora, bobbatlu and payasam.
How the Date of Ugadi Is Determined
Ugadi falls on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month Chaitra in the amanta calendar, where each month ends with the new moon. In practical terms, it is the day after the new moon that falls closest to the spring equinox, as long as the Sun has entered sidereal Meena. The panchanga rule is that the festival is kept on the day on which Pratipada tithi prevails at sunrise. When a tithi is shortened or extended so that two sunrises are touched, almanac makers apply standard rules to choose one day, so a printed calendar and a computed one usually agree. In a year with an adhika (intercalary) Chaitra, Ugadi is observed in the regular Chaitra that follows.
Rituals and customs
- Oil bath (abhyanga snanam) before sunrise
- Mango-leaf torana on doorways and muggulu in the courtyard
- Worship of the family deity and Lord Brahma
- Eating Ugadi Pachadi with six tastes
- Panchanga Shravanam, the public reading of the new year almanac
- Wearing new clothes and visiting elders