What is Gudi Padwa?
Gudi Padwa is the Marathi New Year, celebrated on the first day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra. It is celebrated in Maharashtra and Goa, and the same day is marked as Ugadi in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Raising the Gudi
Families raise a gudi outside the house or at a window: a bamboo staff topped with a bright silk cloth, neem and mango leaves, a garland of flowers and sugar crystals, and an upturned copper or silver pot. It is a symbol of victory and good luck.
How it is celebrated
Homes are cleaned and decorated with rangoli and mango-leaf torans. People eat a bitter-sweet mix of neem leaves and jaggery, and enjoy festive dishes like puran poli and shrikhand. Colourful shobha yatras fill the streets in Mumbai, Pune and other cities.