Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year
Kaliyuga 5116
Varsha Pratipada, Yugadi, Gudi Padwa, Baisakhi, Nav Reh,
Cheti Chand, Nab Barsha, Goru Bihu, Puthandu, Vishu
Surya Samvednapushpayeh Deeptih Karunyagandhane, Labdhva
Shubham Navvarshesmin Kuryatsarvasya mangalam.
As the sun gives light, sensibility brings compassion, and the flowers give pleasant fragrance, may the New Year be auspicious.
Varsha Pratipada is the New Year Day for Hindus. This day marks the beginning of the Hindu solar year and is celebrated all over the country under different names.
Ugadi is traditionally celebrated with prayers, followed by eating a special food mixture called Yugadi Pachhadi (Telugu) or Bevu-Bella (Kannada). This food combines all six tastes to symbolize the fact that life is a mixture of different experiences (sadness, happiness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise), which should all be accepted with equanimity. Its ingredients are neem buds/flowers (for bitterness), raw mango (tanginess), tamarind juice (sourness), green pepper (hotness), jaggery and banana (sweetness), and salt.
In some parts of Bharat, the tender leaves of neem mixed with jaggery are distributed on this occasion. The neem, extremely bitter in taste, and jaggery sweet and delicious, signify the two conflicting aspects of human life—joy and sorrow, success and failure, ecstasy and agony. The neem-jaggery blend is offered to Ishwar as naivedya and then distributed as prasaad. This embodies one of the highest philosophical attitudes taught by the Hindu spiritual masters.
Hindus plant poles wrapped in flags of embroidered silk in front of their homes, and hang pots of brass, copper, or silver on top. These arrangements of flowers, grains, fruits, cloth, gold, and money symbolize the desire for a year full of prosperity.
VHPA