Ugadi is New Year's Day according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar. In 2024, it was celebrated on Tuesday, April 9, according to the Gregorian calendar.
Hindus in Andhra
Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Goa celebrate Ugadi. They celebrate
Ugadi with colorful patterns on the floor called Muggulu/Rangoli,
mango leaf decorations on doors, buying and gifts such as new clothes, charity to the poor, oil massages followed by special baths, and
visits to Hindu temples. Mango leaves and coconuts are considered auspicious in
the Hindu tradition.
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| Pachadi |
A special food prepared
on Ugadi called pachadi combines sweet, sour, salty, bitter,
astringent and piquant flavors. In Telugu
and Kannada Hindu traditions, it reminds one to that the upcoming year will
consist of not just sweet experiences, but also unpleasant episodes. Just as
the different flavors are mixed together, no event or episode is wholly good or
bad.
Ugadi is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu lunisolar
calendar month of Chaitra. This
typically falls in late March or early April of the Gregorian calendar. Ugadi
is New Year according to the lunisolar calendar, which considers both the
position of the Moon and the position of the Sun to divide the year into months
and days.
The counterpart of the lunisolar calendar is the solar calendar, which considers only the position of the Sun to divide the year into months and days. Because of that, Hindu New Year is celebrated twice in the year at two different times. In 2024, Hindu New Year based on the solar calendar is April 13, according to the Gregorian calendar.
Sources:
2024 Hindu
Festivals Calendar, Hindu Tyohar Calendar for Manassas, Virginia, United
States. (n.d.). Drikpanchang.
Retrieved April 9, 2024, from
https://www.drikpanchang.com/calendars/hindu/hinducalendar.html
Wikipedia
contributors. (2024, April 10). Ugadi. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugadi
