Telugu Newyear called Ugadi for this year, will be celebrated on Thursday, 11th April, 2013 .The name Yugadi or Ugadi is derived from the Sanskrit words yuga (age) and ādi (beginning): "the beginning of a new age". It falls on the different day every year because the Hindu calendar is a lunisolar calendar.It is celebrated on Chaitra Sukla Paksha Padyami or First day of the waxing phase of the moon in the month of Chaitra as per Telugu or Hindu calendar (March-April as per the Gregorian Calendar).This year’s name is “Sri Vijaya”.Each year has different name.There are 60 different names according to Hindu calendar.After 60 years the names repeat.People celebrate this event as ‘Shastiabdhi’.Suppose a person is born this year(2013- “Sri Vijaya”),in 2073 the name “Sri Vijaya” again comes,so he can celebrate this celestial event as “Shastiabdhi”.Hindu sastras have special religious functions for this.
People believe that Lord Brahma began the creation of the universe on this auspicious day of Ugadi. People prepare for the new year by cleaning and washing their houses and buying new clothes.
After the bath it is a tradition to eat Ugadi Pacchadi or Ugadi Pickle before eating or drinking anything. The ugadi pachadi is prepared from neem flowers, jaggery or honey,green chillies,tamarind,salt and green unripe mango pieces. It is a mix of six different tastes.It signifies different types of emotions one may feel during the year.
On the Ugadi day they decorate their houses with mango leaves and “rangoli” designs, and pray for a prosperous new year, and visit the temples to listen to the yearly calendar - "Panchanga (almanac) sravanam" as priests make predictions for the coming year.Elderly people also honoured on this day. Ugadi is also an auspicious day to embark on any new endeavor. There is a belief, if you do any new good thing on ugadi, you continue to do good throughout the year.
Usually, the Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Kashmiri and Sindhi New Year falls on the same day - the first day of the month of Chaitra, heralding the advent of spring.
The two calendars most widely used in India today are the Vikrama calendar followed in Western India and Northern India and Nepal, and the Shalivahana or Saka calendar which is followed in Andhrapradesh, karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
The Vikrama calendar begins with the month of Baiśākha or Vaiśākha (April), or Kartika (October/November) in Gujarat. The Shalivahana calendar begins with the month of Chaitra (March/April) and the Ugadi/Gudi Padwa festivals mark the new year.
In Gujarat, Diwali is held on the final day of the Vikram Calendar and the next day marks the beginning of the New Year and is also referred as ‘Annakut’ or Nutan Varsh or Bestu Varsha. In the Hindu calendar popularly used in North India the year begins with Chaitra Shukla Pratipadha (March – April).
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