Yugadi is on April 4th this year. The word yugadi is from yuga + aadi, yuga means era, aadi means start...the start of an era. It is the New Year for Kannada and telugu speaking people and it ushers in the spring season. The day begins with an elaborate oil bath called as 'abhyanjana'. Rangolis are drawn in front of homes and doors are decorated with a 'thorana' - mango and neem leaves strung together as seen here.
After prayers there is eating of Bevu-Bella, a mixture of neem leaves/ flowers and jaggery (unrefined whole cane sugar) symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of sadness and happiness, which should be accepted together and with equanimity.
The telugu people prepare and eat 'ugadi pachadi' which is a special mixture consisting of:
In the evenings, people gather for the panchanga shravana – reading out from the new hindu calendar about the astrological significance of the new year and predictions of all zodiac signs for the coming year!
I have been talking to putti about all these to putti for the past couple of days. She does recognise the plastic mango leaves thoran which adorns our home door here in US. And for an added activity we tried to make a festive banner/ bunting. Well since yugadi co-incides with spring.. wanted to make something leafy!
First cut the paper into triangles (big ones so thats easy for putti to paint). Used a fancy scissors to get a nice edge. Then drew the veins onto them with white/ green crayons. Later putti painted on them with foodcolors.
After prayers there is eating of Bevu-Bella, a mixture of neem leaves/ flowers and jaggery (unrefined whole cane sugar) symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of sadness and happiness, which should be accepted together and with equanimity.
The telugu people prepare and eat 'ugadi pachadi' which is a special mixture consisting of:
- Neem leaves/Flowers for its bitterness, signifying Sadness
- Jaggery and ripe banana pieces for sweetness, signifying Happiness
- Green Chilli/Pepper for its hot taste, signifying Anger
- Salt for saltiness, signifying Fear
- Tamarind Juice for its sourness, signifying Disgust
- Raw Mango for its tang, signifying Surprise
In the evenings, people gather for the panchanga shravana – reading out from the new hindu calendar about the astrological significance of the new year and predictions of all zodiac signs for the coming year!
I have been talking to putti about all these to putti for the past couple of days. She does recognise the plastic mango leaves thoran which adorns our home door here in US. And for an added activity we tried to make a festive banner/ bunting. Well since yugadi co-incides with spring.. wanted to make something leafy!
First cut the paper into triangles (big ones so thats easy for putti to paint). Used a fancy scissors to get a nice edge. Then drew the veins onto them with white/ green crayons. Later putti painted on them with foodcolors.
Allowed them to dry...
After they dried, putti wrote the letters on them as i dictated ..
and then we punched holes and strung them together!
Happy Yugadi :))
