Ugadi / Gudi Padwa (उगादि / गुड़ी पड़वा) is a festival falling in the Hindu lunar month of चैत्र. Its position is fixed by tithi rather than by the Gregorian calendar, so the date moves every year and is computed from the panchang. No fast is prescribed for the day.
Ugadi / Gudi Padwa
उगादि / गुड़ी पड़वा
Hindu month: चैत्र
Panchang Basis (Tithi Rule)
Each year this observance falls on the Pratipada tithi of the Shukla Paksha in the Hindu month of Chaitra. Because lunar tithis drift against the Gregorian calendar, the English date shifts every year — the tithi rule above is what stays fixed.
About This Festival
The lunar new year of the Deccan — Ugadi in Andhra-Telangana-Karnataka and Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra — welcomed with mango-leaf torans, the hoisted gudi flag, ritual neem-jaggery pachadi, and the year's panchang reading (Panchanga Shravanam).
दक्खन का चांद्र नववर्ष — आंध्र-तेलंगाना-कर्नाटक में उगादि और महाराष्ट्र में गुड़ी पड़वा — आम्र-पत्तों के तोरण, गुड़ी ध्वज, नीम-गुड़ की पचड़ी और वर्षफल के पंचांग-श्रवण के साथ मनाया जाता है।
Significance
Chaitra Shukla Pratipada is held to be the day Brahma began creation, making it the natural head of the new samvatsara. The Gudi — a silk-draped staff crowned with an inverted kalash — is raised as a flag of victory and protection over each Maharashtrian home, while the six- taste Ugadi pachadi of neem, jaggery, tamarind, salt, chilli, and raw mango teaches acceptance of the year's mixed fortunes. Hearing the Panchanga Shravanam — the astrologer's reading of the new year's rashi-wise phal — is the day's Jyotish heart, and the day itself is an abujh muhurat for new beginnings.
Puja Vidhi (How to Observe)
Rise before dawn for an oil bath and decorate the doorway with mango-leaf torans and rangoli. Raise the gudi at a window or terrace facing the street — a bamboo staff with silk cloth, neem twigs, a sugar garland, and an inverted kalash — and worship it with haldi-kumkum and flowers. Prepare and first taste the neem-jaggery pachadi, accepting the year's sweetness and bitterness alike. Attend or read the Panchanga Shravanam for the new year's predictions. A festive meal with puran poli or bobbatlu closes the day.
Regional Names
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Ugadi / Gudi Padwa celebrated?
Ugadi / Gudi Padwa is celebrated on Friday, 20 March 2026 in 2026 and Wednesday, 7 April 2027 in 2027. The date changes each year because it follows the Hindu lunar calendar (Panchang) — every date here is computed from real planetary positions using the Swiss Ephemeris engine, not copied from a fixed list.
Is Ugadi / Gudi Padwa a fasting (vrat) day?
Ugadi / Gudi Padwa is not primarily a fasting day, though many families still keep a light fast or a sattvic diet as part of the observance.
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