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Ugadi: the Telugu and Kannada New Year
The New Year that arrives with neem and jaggery
Ugadi, or Yugadi, is New Year's Day in the Hindu lunisolar calendar for Telugu and Kannada speakers, kept in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. It falls on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, usually in late March or early April: 7 April 2027. The same day is Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Goa and Cheti Chand for Sindhis. It is a home festival: an oil bath, mango leaves over the door, a temple visit and a spoonful of pachadi that mixes six tastes.
Telugu & Kannada New Year: the taste of life's complexity
The first lunar day of the bright half of Chaitra; in a year with an extra lunar month the day moves into April (2029: 14 April). The holiday lists of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana confirm it.
The legend
According to the Brahma Purana, on this day Brahma begins creating the universe, and the new year is counted from it.
It is the first lunar day of the bright half of Chaitra: Yugadi in Sanskrit means "the beginning of an era".
Each year has its own Sanskrit name in a sixty-year cycle, and Ugadi opens the next one.
So the year is greeted with a spoonful of pachadi that mixes every taste: whatever the year brings, it will hold them all.
Meaning
Andhra, Telangana
Telugu homes make Ugadi pachadi and bobbatlu, sweet flatbreads, and gather in the evening to hear the new almanac read.
Karnataka
Here the festival is Yugadi: people eat bevu-bella, neem with jaggery, and bake obbattu.
Maharashtra
The same day is Gudi Padwa: a gudi goes up over the house, cloth on a pole with neem, mango leaves, a sugar garland and a copper pot on top.
Sindhis
For Sindhis the day is Cheti Chand, the start of their calendar year.
Customs
Torana
Doors are hung with strings of mango leaves, and muggulu, rice-flour patterns, are drawn at the threshold.
Oil bath
The morning starts with an oil massage and bath, then new clothes go on.
Almanac reading
In the evening the new almanac is read aloud: which planets "govern" the year, what the rains and harvest will be like.
Gifts and alms
New clothes go to loved ones, alms to the poor, and then everyone visits the temple.
What people eat
Ugadi pachadi
neem flowers, jaggery, raw mango, tamarind, salt and pepper
Obbattu
a sweet stuffed flatbread, the festive bake of Yugadi
Words of the festival
ఉగాది
Ugadi
the Telugu New Year, from Sanskrit yugadi, "beginning of an era"
ಬೇವು ಬೆಲ್ಲ
bevu-bella
"neem and jaggery": bitter with sweet for the new year
षड्रुचि
shadruchi
the six tastes of pachadi: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, pungent and astringent
పంచాంగ శ్రవణం
panchanga shravanam
the reading of the almanac for the new year
गुढीपाडवा
Gudi Padwa
the Maharashtrian New Year; gudi means flag
True or myth
✅ True. Neem flowers bring bitterness and jaggery sweetness: the mix is a reminder that the new year will hold everything.
❌ Myth. In Mauritius the day is a national public holiday.
✅ True. In one version the gudi honours his coronation in Ayodhya; in another, the start of the Shalivahana era.
What Ugadi means
Yugadi in Sanskrit joins yuga, an age, and adi, beginning: the start of a new cycle or year. According to the Brahma Purana, this is the day Brahma began creating the universe, which is why the year is counted from it. Each year also has its own Sanskrit name in a sixty-year cycle, the samvatsara, and Ugadi opens the next one.
The date follows the moon. In a year with an extra lunar month the day moves later into April. Families in Karnataka who follow the solar (souramana) calendar keep their New Year instead on Mesha Sankranti, when the sun enters Aries, in mid-April.
The same day starts the year in other parts of India too: Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Goa, Cheti Chand for Sindhis and Sajibu Nongma Panba in Manipur. Outside India, Mauritius keeps Ugadi as a public holiday.
How the day goes
In Telugu and Kannada homes the day follows a familiar order.
- The house
The house is thoroughly cleaned, mango leaves are strung over the door as a torana, and muggulu (rangoli patterns of rice flour) are drawn at the threshold.
- Oil bath and new clothes
The morning starts with an oil massage and a ritual bath, then new clothes and prayers.
- Pachadi
Everyone takes a spoonful of Ugadi pachadi, the mixture of six tastes (below).
- Temple, gifts and the feast
Families visit the temple, give new clothes and gifts to loved ones and charity to the poor, and sit down to a festive meal with bobbatlu, called obbattu or holige in Karnataka: a sweet stuffed flatbread.
- Almanac in the evening
Panchanga shravanam: a priest, astrologer or elder reads the new year's almanac aloud at a temple, hall or home, including the year's planetary ruler and forecasts for rain and harvest.
Ugadi pachadi: six tastes in one spoon
The six tastes (shadruchi) stand for everything the year can bring, bitter with sweet. In Karnataka the simplest form is bevu-bella, neem with jaggery.
| Bitter | Neem buds or flowers |
| Sweet | Jaggery |
| Sour | Tamarind |
| Salty | Salt |
| Pungent | Green chilli or black pepper |
| Astringent | Raw mango |
Ugadi for travellers
Ugadi happens mostly at home, so as a visitor you see it from outside: mango-leaf doorways, rangoli at thresholds and fuller temples. It is a public holiday in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and a restricted holiday in central government offices, so some offices and shops close.
Visitors are welcome at temples with the usual temple etiquette. If you are invited into a home for the day, you will most likely be offered pachadi. For what else is on in the two biggest cities, see festivals in Hyderabad and festivals in Bengaluru.
FAQ
When is Ugadi?
On Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, usually in late March or early April: 7 April 2027.
Are Ugadi and Gudi Padwa the same?
They fall on the same day and both mark the lunar New Year: Ugadi in Telugu and Kannada homes, Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Goa, where a gudi, a cloth on a pole topped with a pot, is raised over the house.
Which god is worshipped on Ugadi?
There is no single deity of the day. Tradition links it to Brahma beginning the creation of the universe, and families visit their usual temples.
Who celebrates Ugadi?
Telugu and Kannada speakers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka and in the diaspora; the same day is New Year in Maharashtra and Goa, for Sindhis and in Manipur under other names.
What is Ugadi pachadi?
A mixture of neem flowers, jaggery, tamarind, raw mango, salt and chilli or pepper, eaten on Ugadi: six tastes for everything the new year can bring.
Is Ugadi a public holiday?
Yes in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; in central government offices it is a restricted holiday.
Sources (3)
Facts checked: 21 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.