Ugadi & Gudi Padwa 2027

What are Ugadi and Gudi Padwa?

Ugadi and Gudi Padwa celebrate the Hindu lunar new year on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright half of Chaitra, usually in March or April. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana it is Ugadi (Yugadi, "the beginning of an age"); in Maharashtra and Goa it is Gudi Padwa; Sindhi communities celebrate Cheti Chand around the same time, and North India begins Chaitra Navratri on the same day. Tradition holds that Lord Brahma began the creation of the world on this day.

How is Ugadi celebrated?

Families wake early for an oil bath, decorate the doorway with mango-leaf torans and rangoli, wear new clothes and visit temples. The most important custom is tasting Ugadi pachadi (bevu-bella in Karnataka): a mixture of six tastes — neem flowers (bitter), jaggery (sweet), tamarind (sour), raw mango (tangy), salt and pepper or chilli (hot). It is a reminder that the new year will bring every kind of experience, to be accepted with balance.

In the evening, many families and temples hold Panchanga Shravanam, the reading of the new year's almanac, where a priest describes the coming year's predictions. Festive dishes include obbattu or bobbatlu (sweet flatbread) and pulihora.

How is Gudi Padwa celebrated?

In Maharashtra, every home raises a gudi at a window or on the terrace: a bamboo stick topped with a bright silk cloth, neem leaves, mango leaves, a garland of flowers and sugar crystals (gathi), with an upturned copper or silver pot on top. The gudi is a symbol of victory and good fortune; some link it to Lord Rama's return to Ayodhya. People eat a little neem with jaggery in the morning, and the festive meal includes shrikhand-puri and puran poli. In cities such as Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Dombivli, large new-year processions (shobha yatras) with dhol-tasha, lezim and people in traditional dress fill the streets.

A good day for new beginnings

Gudi Padwa is one of the three and a half "sade teen muhurat" days in Maharashtrian tradition, considered auspicious without consulting a muhurat. Many families buy gold, vehicles or a new home, or start a business, on this day.