VIVAN Life Sciences Blog
Gudi Padwa is a spring festival marking the start of the lunisolar new year for Hindus, primarily those of the Marathi and Konkani heritage. It is celebrated in and around Maharashtra, Goa & Daman at the start of Chaitra, the first month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar.
Ugadi is celebrated in Andhra as the first day of the new year. It is celebrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Goa in India.
The rituals followed for this auspicious day are making colourful rangolis on the front entrance of the house, tying a marigold flowers and mango leaves toran at the entrance door. A gudi is setup and worshipped and an elaborate vegetarian meal is cooked and offered as Naivedyam. A Shrikhand Puri, or Amrakhand or Puran Poli sweet is made. achadi (or Ugadi pacchadi) is the most notable, and consists of a chutney-like dish which combines ingredients to give all six flavours of food : sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and astringent.
This festive Hindu food is made from tamarind paste (sour), neem flowers (bitter), brown sugar or sweet jaggery (sweet), table salt (salt), green chilli (spicy) and raw mango (astringent). It is a symbolic reminder of complex phases of life one should reasonably expect in the new year.
Gudi Padva signifies the arrival of spring and the reaping of rabi crops. The festival is linked to the mythical day on which the Hindu god Brahma created time and the universe. To some, it commemorates the coronation of Rama in Ayodhya after his victory over Ravana, or the start of the Shalivahan calendar after he defeated the Huns in the first century.[9] According to Anne Feldhaus, in rural Maharashtra, the festival is linked to Shiva’s dance and the coming together of the community as they carry the Gudi Kavads together to a Shiva temple.
