At midnight on 31st December, people all over the world say goodbye to the past year and welcome the coming year with hope and excitement. New calendars adorn walls and desktops on the 1st of January. Everyone wishes a happy new year to all dear and close ones. All over the world, there are different cultures which have their own special way celebrating new year. Different cultures also welcome new year on different days / dates. Some of them have their own special calendar.

 

We, the Telugu speaking people of India celebrate the first day of spring as the beginning of our new year. We call it ఉగాది(Ugaadi). We start our new year along with Kannada speaking and Marathi speaking neighbors on the first day of the Chaitra month. In Marathi, they call this festival Gudi Padwa. Colorful muggulu and doorways adorned with mango leaves and flower garlands announce that it's a festive day. Appetising smells of festive delicacies confirm that a treat is on the way. The special treat of the day though, is ugaadi pachchadi.

 

An interesting ingredient in this pachchadi is neem flowers. The ingredients of pachchadi are so constituted as to cover the shadruchulu spanning the tastes from bitter to sweet. They make us think of the variety of experiences in life from most painful to the most pleasing.

 

The day ends with the community gathering in the local temple for panchanga sravanam. Pnachangam is more than a calendar. Primarily it contains information like the date, based on moon phase, the star associated with it, and helps mark the days in the coming year. As part of Panchanga Sravanam, the priest, who is generally proficient in the science of astrology explains the planetary movements through the year and the possible effects it may have on the weather and more.

 

 


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