Overview
Ugadi (Telugu: ఉగాది), also known as Yugadi (Kannada: ಯುಗಾದಿ) or Samvatsaradi in Sanskrit, marks the first day of the year on the Hindu lunisolar calendar. The name derives from the Sanskrit words yuga (era) and adi (beginning). The festival is traditionally observed by Telugu and Kannada communities in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as well as by diaspora communities.
Ugadi is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu month of Chaitra, which usually falls in late March or early April of the Gregorian calendar. The day is pivoted on the first new moon after the March equinox, and may sometimes fall on the day after Amavasya, coinciding with the 27th Nakshatra, Revati. The Hindu calendrical cycle consists of sixty individually named years.
Customary observances on Ugadi include drawing colourful floor patterns known as muggulu or rangoli, decorating doorways with mango-leaf toranas, wearing new clothes, exchanging gifts, offering charity to the poor, oil massages followed by ritual baths, and visiting Hindu temples. A distinctive feature of the festival is the preparation and sharing of pachadi, a special dish that combines six flavours — sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and piquant. In Telugu and Kannada harvest traditions, this preparation is regarded as a symbolic reminder that the coming year will bring a range of experiences, all of which are to be accepted and embraced.
Followers of the Souramana calendar system in Karnataka observe Ugadi when the sun transits into the Aries constellation. This day, locally known as Souramana Ugadi or Mesha Sankranti, coincides with the festival of Baisakhi celebrated in other parts of India. Ugadi has been a historically significant festival among Hindus, with medieval texts and inscriptions recording charitable donations to temples on this occasion.