India is a country where people of various cultures, languages, castes, and religions live together following both solar and lunar calendar systems, and New Year is celebrated as per Vedic time. There are numerous days in a year when the New Year is celebrated. Every state in India celebrates the New Year in its own way, following traditions and customs, and is a part of that particular region exclusively. The Hindu New Year is also known as the Vikram Samvat and all the festivals are based on it.
Jude Sheetal – Bihar, Jharkhand
Also known as Maithili New Year, it is celebrated by the Maithilis in Bihar, Jharkhand and even Nepal. Maithili New Year is usually celebrated on the 14th of April according to the Gregorian calendar.
It’s Ugadi in Andhra & Karnataka!
The Telugu and the Kannada New Year falls on the first day of the month of Chaitra (March-April). People in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states in the South of India believe that Lord Brahma began the creation of the universe on this auspicious day of Ugadi. People prepare for the new year by cleaning and washing their houses and buying new clothes. On the Ugadi day they decorate their houses with mango leaves and “rangoli” designs, and pray for a prosperous new year, and visit the temples to listen to the yearly calendar – “Panchangasravanam” as priests make predictions for the coming year. Ugadi is also an auspicious day to embark on any new endeavor.
Bring in the Goodies on Gudhi Padwa in Maharashtra & Goa!
In Maharashtra, the new year is celebrated as Gudhi Padwa – a festival that heralds the advent of spring (March-April). Early on the morning of the first day of the Chaitra month, people finish their ablutions, wear new clothes and decorate their houses with colorful “rangoli” patterns. A silk banner is raised and worshipped, and greetings and sweets are exchanged. People hang “gudhis” on their windows on this day to celebrate Mother Nature’s bounty. A “gudi” is a decorated pole with a brass or a silver vessel placed on it.
Pana Sankranti– Odisha New Year
Pana Sankranti also known as Maha Vishuba Sankranti, is the traditional new year day festival of Hindus in Odisha, India. On this day the sun enters the sidereal Aries or Mesha Rashi. It generally falls on 14/15 April. Maha Visuva Sankranti is the first day of the month of ‘Baisakh’ as well as the solar year. This is also called “Jala Visuva Sankranti” In northern India, it is called “Jala Sankranti“, in southern India “Sakkar Pongal” and in Orissa it is known as “Pana Sankranti“, named after ‘Pana’, the main drink offering specially prepared on this occasion.
On this day a small pot filled with pana or a sweet drink of Mishri and water is hung on a basil (Tulsi) plant. There is a hole at the bottom of this pot that allows the water to fall from the pot, representing rain. The flour of horse gram chhatua, along with banana and curd, is consumed by the people of Odisha after offering it to the Tulsi plant.
Cheti Chand – the Sindhi Thanks giving Day!
The Sindhis celebrate Cheti Chand on their New Year day which coincides with Gudhi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Cheti Chand falls on on the first day of the month of Chaitra, also called ‘Cheti’ in Sindhi. This day is observed as the birthday of Jhulelal, the patron saint of the Sindhis. On this day, Sindhis worship Varuna, the water god and observe a number of rituals followed by feasts and devotional music, such as bhajans and aartis.
The Bright Baisakhi of Punjab!
“Baisakhi”, traditionally a harvest festival, is celebrated on the 13th of April every year, marking the Punjabi New Year. People celebrate the joyous occasion by performing Bhangra and Giddha to the pounding rhythm of the dhol and rings in the New Year. Baisakhi also marks the founding of the Khalsa brotherhood by Sikh Guru Govind Singh.
Bestu Varas- Gujarati New Year
Gujarati New Year, also known as ‘Bestu Varas’, ‘Varsha-Pratipada’, or simply ‘Padwa’, is celebrated each year after Diwali to worship Lord Krishna and the Govardhan Hills. It is the first bright day of Kartik (Kartak sud Ekam). As per the Indian Calendar based on Lunar Cycle, Kartik is the first month of the year and the New Year in Gujarat falls on the first bright day of Kartik (Ekam). So, this day marks the beginning of their new fiscal year.
Gujarati houses are lighted colorfully, people dress up nicely and visit temples. According to legend, Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan Paravat to protect the people of Vraja from heavy rains hence it became a tradition of worshipping Govardhan Parvat and celebrating this day as a New Year. Gujarati New Year is celebrated with immense joy, happiness, and enthusiasm in the entire state of Gujarat.
Shubho Naba Barsha on Poila Baishakh in Bengal!
The first day of the Bengali new year falls on the 13th or 14th of April every year. Called “Poila Baishakh,” it’s a state holiday in the eastern state of West Bengal and a national holiday in Bangladesh. To welcome the new year or “Naba Barsha”, people clean and decorate their houses and invoke Goddess Lakshmi, the bestower of wealth and prosperity. All new enterprises begin on this auspicious day, as businessmen open their fresh ledgers with “Haal Khata”- a ceremomy in which Lord Ganesha is summoned and customers are invited to settle all their old dues and offered free refreshments. The people of Bengal spend the day feasting and participating in cultural activities.
The Boisterous Bohaag Bihu of Assam!
The northeastern state of Assam ushers in the new year with the spring festival of Bohaag Bihu or Rongali Bihu, which marks the onset of a new agricultural cycle. Fairs are organized where people revel in gay games. The celebrations go on for days together, and it’s a good time for young people to find a companion of their own choice! Young belles in traditional attire sing “Bihugeets” and dance the traditional “Mukoli Bihu”. The festive food of the occasion is the “pitha” or rice cakes. People visit each other’s houses, exchange gifts and sweets and, greet each other a Happy New Year!
Kerala, Wish You a Happy Vishu!
“Vishu” is the first day in the first month of Medam in Kerala, the beautiful coastal state in southern India. The people of this state – the Malayalees – begin the day early in the morning by visiting the temple and seeing any auspicious sight, which they call “Vishukani.” The day is full of the elaborate traditional rituals with tokens called “Vishukaineetam”, usually in form of coins, being distributed among the downtrodden. People wear new clothes – “Kodi vastram” – and celebrate the day by bursting firecrackers and enjoying a variety of delicacies at an elaborate lunch called the “sadya” with family and friends. The afternoon and evening is spent in the “Vishuwela”.
Tamil New Year: Varsha Pirappu / Puthandu Vazthukal!
The Tamil speaking people across the globe celebrate ‘Varsha Pirappu’ or ‘Puthandu Vazthukal’, the Tamil New Year, in mid-April. It is the first day of Chithirai, the first month in the traditional Tamil calendar. The day dawns by observing Kanni or viewing auspicious things such as gold, silver, jewelry, new clothes, new calendar, mirror, rice, coconuts, fruits, vegetables, betel leaves, and other fresh farm products. This ritual is believed to usher in good fortune. It is followed by a ritualistic bath and almanac worship called Panchanga Puja. The Tamil Panchangam, a book on New Year predictions, is anointed with sandalwood and turmeric paste, flowers and vermilion powder, and is placed before the deity. Later, it is read or listened to either at home or at the temple.
On the eve of Puthandu, every household is thoroughly cleaned and tastefully decorated – the doorways are garlanded with mango leaves strung together and Vilakku Kolam decorative patterns adorn the floors. Donning new clothes, the family members gather and light a traditional lamp, the kuthu vilakku, and fill niraikudum, a short-necked brass bowl with water and embellish it with mango leaves while chanting prayers. Then they visit neighboring temples to offer prayers to the deity. Traditional Puthandu meal consists of pachadi – a mixture of jaggery, chillies, salt, neem leaf or flowers, and tamarind; green banana and jackfruit preparation and a variety of sweet ‘payasam’ dessert.
Jamshedi Navroz
Novruz is the Iranian New Year, celebrated by many ethnolinguistic groups all over the world. In India, on the next day of Pateti, Parsis celebrate Navroz.
Navreh-Kashmiri New Year
The New Year celebrations of the Kashmiri Pandits are ushered in with Navreh that literally means the new year. Navreh is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Nava-Varsha‘, meaning New Year. It falls on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada or the first day of the bright fortnight of the month of Chaitra.
There is a customary practice of preparing a plate full of unhusked rice with bread, a small bowl of yogurt, salt, sugar candy, a few walnuts or almonds, silver coin, and Rs 10 note would also do, a pen, a mirror, some flowers (rose, marigold, crocus, or jasmine) and the new panchanga or almanac. Also, one has to keep Kashmiri Jantri (a panchang book that has an account of all the important dates as per Kashmiri tradition).