What is Gudi Padwa?

Gudi Padwa, or Chaithra Shukla Pratipada, is a Maharashtrian festival that is celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month of the Hindu calendar. Being the first day of a new lunar year, it is traditionally celebrated as Hindu New Year. It is believed that the universe was created by Lord Brahma on this day.

Happy Gudi Padwa!!!!

Chaitra Navratri is also known as ‘Vasanta Navratri’ or ‘Rama Navratri’ as the ninth day of the Navratri festivity is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Rama. People belonging to the Kutchi Gujarati community also celebrate this auspicious day as new year.

How do Maharashtrians celebrate Gudi Padwa?

Gudi Padwa is a day that combines worship with celebration. Right from when the family wakes up, each member is busy with some joyful task or the other. The day is packed with interesting activities like decorating the house with colourful rangolis, making of bamboo dolls, conducting pujas, cooking and tasting food with a mix of flavours, and many more such activities.

Here is how the day goes by…
• All the family members get up early in the morning, clean their homes and take a good clean bath (abhyangasnan bath). Now comes the fun part – they wear new clothes!

• The front yard and/or the area outside the main door are decorated with colour rangolis or flower rangolis. A string of mango leaves and flowers, known as Toran, is fixed on the main door.

• The idols kept in the pooja ghar are given a holy bath with chandan or fragrant utana. This is followed by puja and arati. As part of the puja, lamps and incense sticks or cones are lit as signs of auspiciousness. Neeranjan is offered and the family prays together to the deity for everyone’s well-being.

• Kids worship their school books, as Saraswati Devi, the Goddess of Knowledge manifests in the form of books and other tools of learning.

• Another interesting custom is to make Gudi or dolls out of bamboo sticks. A copper, brass or silver pot (new or properly cleaned one) is used to make the face of the gudi. The doll is decked with new silk cloth, neem and mango leaves and coloured garlands. Sweet batasha garland is offered and tied on the doll. This beautiful gudi is then placed or hoisted outside the main door or a window near the main home entrance. Diyas or incense sticks are lighted in front of the gudi and worshipped.

• It is believed that on this day Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya and people welcomed him by hoisting pretty gudis in front of their houses. So, the custom continues.

• Everybody touches the feet of their elders and gurus and seeks their blessings. Friends and relatives wish each other a Happy New Year.

• This day is one amongst the 3½ muhurats considered to be extremely auspicious for starting new things or doing good deeds or charity. You can start doing new things (example, start music classes), inaugurate a business or shop, construct a new house, purchase gold ornaments or new vehicles, etc., on this day.

• Food being part and parcel of all festivities, it plays an important role here too. The family sits together and enjoys a traditional meal along with one or more Indian sweets. Shrikhand, or sweetened and flavoured hung curds, is a must for this occasion. It can be made at home or bought, because a lot of variety is available in stores these days.

• It is also customary that every family member consumes at least a little bit of neem juice on this day. The philosophical reason is that all sweetness in life is punctuated by a little bitterness – there are ups and downs in life and we should face it with fortitude. Every bad experience also ultimately leads to some learning and makes us a better person, just like the bitter taste of