Ugadi 2027 उगादि

The story behind Ugadi

Ugadi (Yugadi, 'the start of an age') is the Telugu and Kannada New Year, the first day of Chaitra. It welcomes a new samvatsara, and in temples the year's panchanga shravanam — a reading of the coming year's forecast — is heard.

Significance of Ugadi

The day's emblem is the Ugadi pachadi, a dish of six tastes — neem (bitter), jaggery (sweet), raw mango (tangy), tamarind (sour), salt and chilli — eaten to accept that the year will bring sorrow and joy together. It is a highly auspicious day for new beginnings.

How Ugadi is celebrated

• An oil bath before dawn and wearing new clothes
• Eating the Ugadi pachadi of six tastes
• Decorating the door with mango-leaf torans and rangoli (muggu)
• Listening to the panchanga shravanam for the new year
• Visiting temples and sharing festive meals

Regional variations

It is Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, the same tithi as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, and close kin to the Konkani and Sindhi new years — one lunar new year across the Deccan.

Festive foods of Ugadi

Traditional dishes prepared for Ugadi include Ugadi pachadi, bobbatlu/holige, pulihora, mango pachadi.

Quick tips

• Taste all six flavours of the pachadi
• An auspicious day to begin ventures and purchases

Choosing the muhurat on Ugadi

Ugadi falls on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. To choose an auspicious time on the day, open the muhurat planner for your city and check the day's choghadiya and the Rahu Kaal to avoid. For the exact date this year, see the panchang calendar, and for weddings or a housewarming near this festival, confirm the muhurat with a qualified pandit.