The President of India has sent his greetings to fellow citizens on the eve of Chaitra Sukladi, Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand, Navreh and Sajibu Cheiraoba.

Gudi Padwa

• Gudi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the traditional New Year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus, but is also celebrated by other Hindus as well.
• It is celebrated in and around Maharashtra, Goa, and the union territory of Damaon on the first day of the Chaitra month, to mark the beginning of the New Year according to the luni-solar method of the Hindu calendar.
• Padava or paadvo comes from the Sanskrit word pratipada, which is the first day of a lunar fortnight.
• The spring festival is observed with colourful floor decorations called rangoli, a special Gudhi dvaja (flag garlanded with flowers, mango and neem leaves, topped with upturned silver or copper vessels), street processions, dancing& festive foods.

Significance

• Gudhi Padva signifies the arrival of spring and to the reaping of Rabi crops.
• The festival is linked to the mythical day on which Hindu god Brahma created time and universe.
• To some, it commemorates the coronation of Rama in Ayodhya after his victory over evil Ravana, or alternatively the start of Shalivahan calendar after he defeated the Huns invasion in the 1st century.

State-wide celebrations

• Bihu among the Assamese of Assam.
• Cheti Chand among the Sindhi people
• Navreh among the Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Pahela Baishakh among the Bengalis in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
• Puthandu among the Tamils in Tamil Nadu.
• Samvatsar Padvo among Hindu Konkanis of Goa and Konkani diaspora in Kerala
• Vaisakhi or Baisakhi among the Punjabis in Punjab.
• Vishu or among the Malayalis in Kerala.
• Ugadi among the south-Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• Sajibu Cheiraoba in Manipur

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