When is Gudi Padwa / Ugadi?
The answer
Wednesday, 7 April 2027
The lunar new year. Chaitra Shukla Pratipada.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Chaitra Shukla 1
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Monday, 27 March 2028
Chaitra Shukla 1
Friday, 16 March 2029
Chaitra Shukla 1
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Chaitra Shukla Pratipada — the first day of the Hindu year. The Vikram Samvat turns here, which is why so many regions keep it under their own name: Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Ugadi in Karnataka and Andhra, Navreh in Kashmir, Cheti Chand among Sindhis. The Brahma Purana says Brahma began creation on this day. The gudi itself — an inverted pot on a bamboo pole with silk and neem and mango leaves — is a flag of victory; it is said people raised it at every door when Shalivahana won. It is also one of the three and a half abujh muhurats of the year.
The story behind it
The beginning
The Brahma Purana says Brahma restarted the count of time on this tithi after the dissolution. That is why it is the first day of the samvatsara.
Rama's return
One tradition has Rama reaching Ayodhya on this day after killing Ravana, and the city raising flags of victory — which is what the gudi remembers.
Shalivahana
The other story is Shalivahana's, who breathed life into an army of clay and beat the Shakas. The Shalivahana Shaka era begins from that win, and people raised a gudi at every house.
Neem and jaggery
The first thing eaten today is neem with jaggery — bitter and sweet together. The year opens by saying plainly that both are coming.
What to keep ready
- A long bamboo pole and new silk cloth for it, green or yellow
- A copper or silver pot, to be set on it upside down
- Neem leaves, mango leaves and a marigold garland
- Batasha, or a sakhar gathi — the sugar garland
- Neem, jaggery, tamarind and raw mango, for the first taste of the year
- Rangoli, haldi and kumkum
- Puran poli or shrikhand
- The new panchang — the year's first reading is from it
How the puja is done
1
Abhyang snan
An oil bath before sunrise — abhyang snan in Maharashtra — and then new clothes.
2
Raising the gudi
In the first hour after sunrise. Silk on the bamboo, neem and mango leaves, a garland and a sakhar gathi, and the pot inverted on top. Raise it on the right of the house, at a window or a door.
3
The puja
Haldi, kumkum, flowers and incense on the gudi. Brahma and Vishnu remembered, then the aarti.
4
Neem and jaggery
After the puja, the mix of neem, jaggery, tamarind and raw mango is given to everyone — the year's first taste.
5
Reading the panchang
The new panchang is opened and the year's forecast read aloud. That belongs to this day.
6
Taking it down
The gudi comes down before sunset. It is not left standing after dark.
What to do
- Raise the gudi after sunrise and take it down before sunset — it does not stand overnight.
- The pot goes on upside down; a pot the right way up is not a gudi.
- Eat the neem and jaggery first, on an empty stomach.
- It is an abujh muhurta — new work, a new vehicle, buying gold, moving into a house, all without looking up a time.
- Get the new panchang today and read or hear the year's forecast.
- Put up a mango-leaf toran and a rangoli at the door.
What not to do
- Do not dress the gudi in old or unclean cloth; it must be new.
- Do not leave it up at night and do not let it fall — a fallen gudi is taken badly.
- No quarrelling in the house today; the whole custom of the first day rests on that.
- Do not take only the sweet part of the neem mix — the bitter half is the point of it.
- No meat, no drink, no tamasik food today.
The aarti
Om Jai Brahmadev Hare
ॐ जय ब्रह्मदेव हरे, स्वामी जय ब्रह्मदेव हरे।
सृष्टि रचयिता तुम हो, काल चक्र धरे॥
चार वेद मुख से प्रकटे, कमल आसन धारी।
हंस वाहन शोभित, सावित्री प्यारी॥
चैत्र शुक्ल प्रतिपदा, सृष्टि तुमने रची।
काल गणना आरंभी, संवत तुमने दी॥
नववर्ष का पहला दिन, तुमको समर्पित है।
नीम गुड़ का भोग लो, भक्ति अर्पित है॥
श्री ब्रह्मदेव की आरती, जो कोई नर गावे।
नूतन वर्ष सुहावन, मंगलमय पावे॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.