Ugadi: Telugu states gear up to usher in festivities

HYDERABAD: Ugadi, a significant festival celebrated in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, is also known as the Telugu New Year’s Day as per the Lunar calendar. This year, Ugadi, also known as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, falls on March 22, 2023.

Yugadi or Ugadi is derived from the Sanskrit words yuga (age) and adi (beginning), and literally means 'the beginning of a new age'.

This Indian festival celebrates the advent of joy, happiness, hope, and light.

Significance of Ugadi Festival

Ugadi begins when the sun crosses the equator from south to north during the Spring Equinox. It symbolizes the arrival of spring and is thus emblematic of new beginnings, new hopes, and new aspirations. The Ugadi festival is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Chaitra.

Traditional rituals on Ugadi

The traditional rituals for Ugadi begin with an oil bath, followed by prayers. Hindu scriptures recommend oil baths and eating Neem flower as mandatory practises. People often decorate doors with mango leaves called “torana” and draw colourful pattern on the floor called Muggulu.

Many customs observed on this day include buying and giving new clothes as gifts, donating to the needy, taking a special bath and applying oil, making and distributing a special dish called Ugadi pachadi, and visiting Hindu temples.

Preparations for the Ugadi festival begin a week in advance. Homes are well cleaned and decorated with rangoli and fresh mango leaves. Mango leaves and coconuts are considered auspicious in Hindu religion.

Ugadi is incomplete without Ugadi Pachadi

Pachadi, also known as Ugadi pacchadi, is a chutney-like delicacy prepared at the Ugadi Festival with tamarind paste, neem flowers, brown sugar or sweet jaggery, salt, and raw mango. The recipe includes all flavours - sweet, sour, salt, spicy, tangy, and bitter - and serves as a metaphor for the different phases of life that one can legitimately expect in the new year.

Special delicacies on Ugadi

Several special delicacies are prepared for the Ugadi festival. During the celebration, sweets like bobbatlu, Poornam Burelu, Moong dal payasam, Mysore pak, Sweet Pongal, Minappu Vada and Pulihara are prepared in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.