Festivities to mark Hindu New Year Day

Millions of people around the world will mark the beginning of the auspicious month of ‘Chaitra,’ on April 14, which would also denote the beginning of the New Year according to the Lunar calendar.

The first day of the month of Chaitra would also denote New Year Day for Tamilian and Malayalee Hindus, while Telugu Hindus will mark their New Year Day with ‘Ugadi’ on April 11 this year.

Ugadi in South Auckland

The Ganesha (Karpaga Vinaygar) Temple in the South Auckland suburb of Papakura has planned an elaborate programme on April 11 to celebrate Ugadi, with an opportunity for devotees to participate in the prayers through sponsorship.

Chief Priest Parameswaran (aka Chandru) said that the programme will commence at 10 am with an ‘Abhishekam’ to all the Deities in the sanctum sanctorum, followed by Morning Arati at 11 am.

“The daily Archana and ‘Ashtothara Archana’ will be performed from 1130 am to 1 pm. Following the opening of the Temple at 6 pm, ‘Maha Deeparathanai,’ will be held at 7 pm, following the usual Poojas and ‘sevas.’ A major highlight of this year’s Ugadi festival would be ‘Kamakashi Egambareswarar Kalyanam’ (‘The Marriage of Kamakashi, a form of Parvathi with Egambareswarar or Lord Shiva), conducted to evoke the blessings of the twin aspects of Shakti,” he said.

Chandru said that devotees can participate in the day’s event with their sponsorship ($51 per family).

New Year for many

People from many states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, North Indian States, the Sindhi and Sindhi communities mark April 14 as their New Year Day.

As we have mentioned in several of our past reports, Diwali brings with it New Year Day mainly for people from Gujarat and Rajasthan, whereas people from Odisha (Orissa) mark April 14 as their New Year Day, observing Maha Shankaranthi and Hanuman Jayanthi.

Ugadi or ‘Yugadi’ is derived from the Sanskrit words Yuga (age) and Adi (beginning). It falls on different days every year because the Hindu calendar is lunisolar.