Gudi Padwa and Ugadi | Fairs & Festivals of India
- Urmi Chanda-Vaz
- Mar 28, 2017
- 3 min read
As the cycle of seasons turns, it reminds us of the continuity of life. It is a time to thank the elements for creating and sustaining us. From the time man picked up the plow to tame the earth, he has periodically acknowledged her for her bounty. The custom of agricultural festivals is common to almost all human cultures and these have been celebrated from ancient periods. India is no exception, and today we shall talk about one such important agricultural festival that falls on the first day of the Hindu month of Chaitra, that occurs roughly in March-April.
This festival, marking the end of the Rabi crop season, is known by different names in different parts of India. In Maharashtra, it is called Gudi Padwa. The term is a combination of Gudi meaning 'banner' and 'padwa' apparently being a corruption of the Sanskrit word, 'pratipada'. The gudi refers to the Brahma-dhwaja or the flag of Brahma that is hoisted on that day to commemorate the mythical beginnings of the universe. As the creator god Brahma is believed to have created the world on that day, it is considered extremely auspicious and an appropriate time for all new beginnings. Some even believe that the day marks the victorious return of Rama to Ayodhya. Pratipada usually means the first day of a lunar fortnight – in this case, the Chaitra Shukla Paksha.
The festival of Gudi Padwa is celebrated as the New Year by Maharashtrians. The most striking feature of the occasion is the hoisting of the gudi at the entrance of each household. The Gudi is usually a long bamboo pole, to which a colourful cloth is tied. An inverted copper pot is placed on top and the pole is decorated with mango and neem leaves, flowers and even a string of gaathis or sugar crystal sweets. Each element has a symbolic significance on this pole. The cloth stands for the victory banner, the mango leaves and flowers signify fertility and prosperity, the neem leaves are meant to ward off evil, and the sugar sweets are symbolic of the sweetness one wishes for in life. The gudi is sometimes even seen as a representation of the human figure, in which case, the stick represents the lower body and the inverted pot represents the human head. The gudi is usually raised and worshipped within the first few minutes after sunrise. Other rituals include putting up a mango-leaf torana, drawing rangolis and making special dishes such as puran-polis and shrikhand.
A little further in Konkan, the festival is known as Samsaar Padvo, which is a derivation from the words 'Samvatsar' and 'Padva'. Samvatsar is the Sanksrit term for a year. Further south in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, this festival is called Yugadi or Ugadi. The term is a combination of the words Sanskrit words 'Yuga' and 'Adi', which signify the beginning of an era. This commencement of the new year is marked in several symbolic ways during the festivities. People listen to the almanac for predictions in a ritual called Panchangam Sravanam, visit temples, and wear new clothes. But it is through food that the profound idea of life's variety is conveyed. The Ugadi Pachadi is a special dish prepared on this day which combines ingredients like neem, jaggery, chillies, salt, tamarind and raw mango which unite the bitter, sweet, pungent, salty, sour and tangy flavours. This custom reminds us that there will be bitter-sweet experiences in life and that one must accept them all with equanimity.
Here's wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year.
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