Festival · Brahma

Ugadi and Gudi Padwa

New Year in the lunar calendar: Ugadi in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra. Tradition holds that Brahma began creation on this day.

Ugadi and Gudi Padwa 2027
Wednesday 7 April 2027
New Delhi

For New Delhi, Wednesday 7 April 2027

Shukla Pratipada tithi

Begins
5:21 am
Ends
4:29 am, 8 Apr
Sunrise
6:05 am
Sunset
6:42 pm
Moonrise
Not this day
Moonset
7:09 pm

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

Full panchang for this day →

How it is kept

Customs vary by region and family

  • Raise a gudi, a decorated pole, at the door
  • Eat Ugadi pachadi, which mixes six tastes for the year ahead
  • Hear the new year’s almanac read

What it remembers

The first day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra opens the lunar year across the Deccan and Maharashtra: Ugadi in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Goa, and the day the panchang for the new year is first read. Tradition holds that Brahma began creation on this morning.

The first day of creation

The Brahma Purana says Brahma created the world on this day and set the sun, the moon and time itself in motion, which is why the year begins here and why the new almanac, the panchang, is read aloud on it. Yuga-adi, the beginning of the age, became Ugadi.

Rama’s return and the gudi

In Maharashtra the gudi is Rama’s victory flag: tradition says the people of Ayodhya raised flags when Rama came home and was crowned, and that Chaitra Shukla Pratipada was the day of the coronation. The gudi at the door is that banner, raised against evil and for a good year.

Shalivahana’s era

The day also begins the Shalivahana Shaka era used in southern and western almanacs. The story has the king Shalivahana of Pratishthana, today’s Paithan, breathing life into an army of clay soldiers and defeating his enemies on this day.

The six tastes

Ugadi pachadi mixes neem flowers, jaggery, raw mango, tamarind, green chilli and salt: bitter, sweet, sour, tangy, hot and salty. Eaten first thing, it is a reminder that the year ahead, like life, will hold all six, and that each should be met with the same even mind.

Keeping the new year

The day begins before dawn with an oil bath and ends with the reading of the year’s panchang. Families keep it in many ways; follow your own tradition where it differs.

  1. Rise before sunrise and take the abhyanga snan, an oil bath, then wear new clothes.
  2. Decorate the doorway with a torana of mango leaves and a rangoli at the threshold.
  3. In Maharashtra, raise the gudi: a bamboo pole with a bright silk cloth, a garland of neem leaves and flowers, a string of sugar crystals (gathi), and an upturned copper or silver pot on top. Set it at the door or a window facing the street, and worship it.
  4. Offer prayers to Brahma, Vishnu and the family deity, and to the new year itself, with a lamp, flowers and the first fruits of the season.
  5. Eat the pachadi first: neem flowers, jaggery, raw mango, tamarind, chilli and salt. In Maharashtra, neem leaves with jaggery.
  6. Hear the panchanga shravanam: the year’s almanac is read at the temple or at home, with its forecast for rain, crops and the year ahead.
  7. Share a festive meal: holige or puran poli, bevu bella, pulihora, shrikhand with puri, and visit elders for their blessing.

What you need

  • Mango leaves and flowers for the torana, and colours for rangoli
  • For the gudi: a bamboo pole, a silk cloth, neem leaves, a sugar garland and a small pot
  • Neem flowers or leaves, jaggery, raw mango, tamarind, chilli and salt for the pachadi
  • A lamp, incense and the season’s first fruits
  • The new year’s panchang

Across India

Karnataka

Yugadi: bevu bella (neem and jaggery), holige and the reading of the panchanga at the temple. The day after is Varsha Todaku.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Ugadi: the six-taste pachadi, bobbatlu, and kavi sammelanams, gatherings of poets, in the evening.

Maharashtra and Goa

Gudi Padwa: the gudi raised at every door, shrikhand-puri or puran poli, and the Shobha Yatra processions of Mumbai and Pune.

Sindhi families

Cheti Chand, the birthday of Jhulelal, falls on the day after, with the Bahrana Sahib carried to the water.

Kashmir

Navreh: the Kashmiri Pandit new year, with the thal of rice, a mirror, a coin and the new almanac seen first thing in the morning.

Manipur

Sajibu Cheiraoba, the Meitei new year, with a feast and the climb of a nearby hill in the afternoon.

When it falls

Shukla Pratipada of Chaitra. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.

Ugadi and Gudi Padwa in the coming years

New Delhi, India time

  1. 2027Wednesday 7 April 2027
  2. 2028Monday 27 March 2028

Questions

When is Ugadi and Gudi Padwa in 2027?

Wednesday 7 April 2027, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.

When does Ugadi and Gudi Padwa fall?

Shukla Pratipada of Chaitra. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

How is Ugadi and Gudi Padwa kept?

Families raise a gudi, a decorated pole, at the door, eat Ugadi pachadi, which mixes six tastes for the year ahead and hear the new year’s almanac read. Customs vary by region and family.

Who is honoured on Ugadi and Gudi Padwa?

Brahma. New Year in the lunar calendar: Ugadi in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra. Tradition holds that Brahma began creation on this day.

Are Ugadi and Gudi Padwa the same day?

Yes. Both fall on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, which opens the lunar year in the amanta reckoning used in the south and west. Ugadi is the southern name, Gudi Padwa the Marathi one.

Is this the Hindu New Year everywhere?

No. Punjab, Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha begin their year with the solar new year in mid-April (Baisakhi, Poila Boishakh, Puthandu, Vishu). Gujarat begins its year the day after Diwali. Chaitra Shukla Pratipada is the lunar new year of the Deccan and Maharashtra, and the first day of Chaitra Navratri in the north.

What goes on a gudi?

A bamboo pole with a bright silk or brocade cloth tied at the top, a garland of neem leaves and flowers, a string of sugar crystals, and an upturned pot of copper or silver crowning it. It stands at the door or window, raised in the morning and taken down at sunset.