The Hindu New Year is celebrated in Hinduism with the advent of spring when the Earth celebrates Her New Year and flowers start blooming and new crops are sown. We don’t celebrate New Year in the middle of winter as the westerners do! Our New Year is celebrated in different parts of Bharat under different names. It is called Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Cheti Chand by Sindhis and Navreh by Kashmiri Pandits. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana it is known as Ugadi. It is called Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Bihu in Assam, Vaisakhi in Punjab, Vishu in Kerala, Pana Sankranti in Orissa and Naba Barsha in West Bengal. It is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month according to the Hindu calendar. It normally falls during March/April of the Gregorian calendar.

The Tamil, Kerala and Andhra New Year falls on 14th April and will be taken separately in the blog called Vishu. 

The Hindus follow the lunar calendar. A lunar month consists of twenty-eight days or two fortnights. The fortnight of the waxing moon is known as shukla paksha or the bright half and the fortnight of the waning moon is known as krishna paksha or the dark half. The first day of every lunar fortnight is known as pratipada, the second day is called dwitiya and so on.

Chaitra is first amongst the twelve months of the Hindu calendar. The first day of Chaitra or the Chaitra Pratipada is called Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi in Telangana and some other states. The festival celebrates the advent of spring and the heralds the new year and is celebrated all over the country under different names.

The day also indicates the beginning of Chaitra Navaratri, or Vasanta Navaratri, which is the nine-day worship of the Goddess, Durga. The 9th day also marks the birth of Lord Rama and is known as Rama Navami. It is the beginning of the New Year as per the Hindu calendar. The rituals connected with the New Year are slightly different in different states of Bharat but the essence remains the same.

Time is cyclical in the Hindu calendar. A year is known as a samvatsara in Sanskrit. In the western method of calculating time we find that the names of each day of the seven-day week repeats itself – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday etc. The names of each month of the twelve months of the year also keep repeating. The Hindus go one step further and give a special name to every year or samvatsara. Our New Year begins on the 1st day of the month of Chaitra. This year – 2021 to 2022 is known as Plava and will end on the 1st day of Chaitra or 2nd April when a new samvatsara will begin. This new samvatsara, 2022-2023, will be known as Shubhakrita. Actually these names, though given centuries ago give a hint as to the type of year to expect. “Plava” is a troublesome year but in “Shubhakrita” we can have some hope of a better future. Hindus believe that every sixty years some sort of planetary change takes place. That is why the names of the years start repeating after sixty years or sixty samvatsaras. This is another reason why the Hindus celebrate their 60th birthdays with a lot of ceremonies because this number has something to do with the alignment of the planets in the lunar year.  

Thus, all sixty samvatsaras can be identified by their unique names. We will not go into the names of all the sixty samvatsaras but just for the record we can say that the first samvatsara in every sixty-year cycle, starts with the name Prabhava and the last in the sixty-year series ends with the name Kshaya. These sixty are divided into three groups of twenty samvatsaras each. The first group of twenty samvatsaras (Prabhava to Vyaya) are assigned to Brahma, the next twenty (Sarvajit to Parabhava) to Vishnu and the last twenty (Plavanga to Kshaya) to Shiva. This year or samvatsara is known as Shubhakrita as has been mentioned.

Gudi Padwa is the Marathi New Year according to the Luni-Solar calendar. Hindus follow the Luni-Solar calendar which take into consideration the position of both the moon and the sun to divide the year into months and days. The solar calendar on the other hand considers only the position of the sun in order to divide the year. As has been said all the different states of Bharat celebrate New Year in spring since that is when the earth also starts anew. We will not go into the meaning of all the different names for this festival in the different states but will take the name Gudi Padwa and find out what it means. The Maharashtrians believe that this was the day that Brahma created the world therefore “gudi” refers to Brahma’s flag. Padwa comes from the Sanskrit word “pradipadam” which is the name for the first day of a lunar fortnight.

In Marathi, it is traditionally referred to as Chaitra Shukla Pratipada – the first day of the bright fortnight of the month of Chaitra. This day is considered glorious and holds both historical and spiritual significance.

It’s believed that on this day Lord Brahma created the universe at the command of Maa Durga, thus it marks the start of the Vasanta Navaratri. This day is also said to be the beginning of the very first yuga – “Satyuga.” It also marks the coronation ceremony of Lord Rama in Ayodhya after his victorious return from Lanka.

It was on this day that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj hoisted his flag of victory upon his territory and thus set off the Gudi Padwa festivities. This is why this festival is celebrated with such fervour in Maharashtra.

History indicates that the Shakas defeated the Huns on this day hence Gudi Padwa is also the first day of the Shalivahan calendar.

The day begins with a ritual oil bath followed by various pujas. You will notice that an oil bath is a must in most Hindu festivals. Of course this has two aspects. In olden days people did this as a ritual but of course the practical side is that after we shed all the woolen clothes of winter it is very good for our health to cleanse the body with an oil bath. During winter many people never take regular baths due to the cold. Hence, once again we find that all the so-called superstitious rites in Hinduism have a great utilitarian value. Another peculiar custom is to eat neem leaves. Neem purifies the blood and boosts our immunity. Again we find how very scientific the so-called rituals of Hinduism are. Neem leaves have only recently been acknowledged by western scientists to have the ability to enhance our inner immunity.

In North Bharat the Chaitra Navaratri Puja or nine-day worship of Maa Durga, starts on the same day. Neem leaves are considered to be liked by Durga so they are eaten with mishri or rock sugar on the very first day of Navaratri. Neem leaves are also a metaphor for the bitter experiences that we have on our life’s journey. By consuming them on this auspicious day we indicate our preparedness to open up and accept unpleasant experiences in the coming year. In a way, this also hints at our spiritual evolution and an inner transformation.

The gudi is the flag of Brahma as has been mentioned. It is believed that the gudi brings good luck and prosperity and wards off negativity. First of all a bamboo stick draped with some brand new yellow or red coloured silk cloth is erected at an elevated spot near the front door or the window of the house. In place of a normal flag, a brass, copper or silver vessel marked with a swastika is upturned on top of the bamboo stick. Over this pot a garland made of flowers, mango leaves, and neem leaves are placed. This is the gudi or flag which is then worshipped. The prasad or offering is made of neem leaves, tamarind and jaggery and is distributed among all the family members.

As has been mentioned many times in all our festivals, we find that all our festival dates have a great cosmic significance. On this particular day, the sun is vertically above the intersection point between the equator and the meridians. This marks the beginning of the spring season.

The significance of Gudi Padwa is also seen in the agricultural calendar. In Bharat where agriculture used to be the main occupation, Gudi Padwa indicates the end of the winter season when the fields were lying fallow. Farmers consider this day to be extremely auspicious for sowing seeds for their summer crop.

Gudi Padwa is also considered to be an auspicious day for any new beginning and for initiating new ventures. Buying a new vehicle or buying gold on this day is considered to bring prosperity and good luck.

As can be expected every festival in Bharat is marked with different types of dishes which are specially prepared for the occasion. In Maharashtra, people celebrate this day with Puran Poli, which is fried puffy bread and Shrikhand which is a sweet yogurt dessert. Kanangachi Kheer is a sweet dish made of sweet potato, rice, jaggery and coconut milk and is prepared by the Konkanis. Popular main dishes you can prepare for the festival are Kothimbir Vadi, Batata Vada, Sabudana Vada, Chakli, Poori Bhaji, Batata Bhaji and Masala Bhaat.

Some other delightful desserts which are prepared for Gudi Padwa are Kaju Modak, Coconut Laddoo, Shrikhand, Kesari Bhaat, sweet Shakarpare, Banana Sheera and Basundi.

In some parts of South Bharat, certain dishes with raw mango are made exclusively for this occasion. The most popular dish is “pachadi” which is a type of “raita” made with various ingredients to bring out different flavours like sweet, sour, tangy, and bitter. This is supposed to remind us of the different flavours of life. Life will have both sweet and bitter experiences.

The new samvatsara sets the tone for the whole year. The rituals connected with this tells us to be prepared to face the challenges of the New Year. It also reminds us that, like the changing flavours, all things in life are transitory. Whether it be pain or pleasure, everything is temporary and hence needs to be accepted gracefully.

May all those who read this article be blessed and have an amazing New Year. May the Nava Durgas lead us out of this samsara of delusionary life into the glory of a spiritual life.

Hari Aum Tat Sat!