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In India, we celebrate a lot of festivals. Ugadi is celebrated by people of Andhra Pradesh to signify the Telugu New year. Universally, we follow English Gregorian Calendar. But as per Hindu Lunar calendar, “Ugadi” marks the first day of the year from the month Chaithra. “Ugadi” means “Begining of a new period”. This day also signifies the beginning of the Spring season.
While the people of Andhra celebrate the new year as ‘Ugadi’, People from other states like Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Maharashtra celebrate this festival with different names and different traditions.
Like most of the festivals, we wake up early on that day, take hair wash and bath, wear new dresses and perform pooja to God. We prepare Ugadi Pachadi and we eat with a hope for a new year which is a combination of different emotions (happiness, sorrow, challenges, and surprises).
Some traditions that Telugu people follow on Ugadi:
Ugadi Pachadi:
Our life is a combination of happiness, sorrow, and many other emotions. So, we have a tradition to recognize and remember this fact about life. We prepare a dish mixed with 6 different ingredients with 6 different tastes and eat it on that day.
Each taste signifies a specific emotion.
Jaggery (Sweet) – Happiness
Neem flowers (bitter) – Sorrow
Mango (tangy) – Surprises and new challenges
Tamarind (Sour) – Challenges
Salt (salty) – interest in life
Green chilies (Spicy) – Anger
Panchanga Sravanam:
Usually, people gather at temples or at any public places to listen to an Astrologer’s predictions about the state of life in the new year, social and economic situation of the country, well being of the place etc., The knowledgeable Astrologers predict the turn of events in future as per the movement of celestial bodies in the space. Nowadays, we listen to these predictions on TV of-course 🙂
Delicacies:
We prepare a lot of tasty dishes on that day and have a feast with friends and family. Pulihora (Lemon rice), Mango chutney, bobbatlu (A sweet flatbread) and Boorelu (Rice flour balls stuffed with jaggery and dal) are worth a mention.
After all, Every festival is a way to get together with family and friends and spend some good time. Also, these festivals are to understand the significance of old traditions and pass them on to our next generations. Won’t you agree?
Have a Happy Ugadi to you all 🙂
Mahathi Ramya is a mom of 2 boys, a blogger, software testing professional and a classical dance teacher. She writes on books, travel, and parenting. She loves writing, traveling and painting a lot.