Ugadi /Yugadi is the First Day of the New Year according to the Hindu / Saka / Lunar Calendar. The month of Chaitra being the first month and Ugadi being the first day of the month. The name Yugadi is coined from two Sanskrit words Yuga and Adi. Yuga means age /year and Adi means beginning.
Yugadi is usually celebrated on the day after the New Moon in the month of Chaitra. So the date is not fixed. According to Gregorian Calendar it is celebrated in March or April. Yugadi Coincides with the Spring Equinox. Some Indians celebrate Yugadi on the day after the Spring Equinox. This year it falls on April 8, in India.
Ugadi / Yugadi is celebrated in the Deccan region in India, where Lunar Calendar is followed. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa celebrate Ugadi. In Maharashtra the festival is known as Gudi Padwa. Many other states too celebrate their New Year on the same day.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telengana a ceremonial dish known as Ugadi Pachadi is prepared. It is a confluence of six different tastes - sweet, sour, spice, salt, tangy and bitter, symbolising happiness, disgust, anger, fear, surprise and sadness respectively. The materials used in the preparation are fresh jaggery, fresh tamarind juice, chilly/pepper, salt, raw mango and neem flowers. The preparation of the pachadi vary from region to region. The ugadi pachadi symbolises human life.
Many other special dishes are prepared. These too vary from place to place. The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and merriment. Later people gather in temples to hear the New year forecast (Panjanga Sravanam ).
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