By IANS,
Mumbai/Chennai/Hyderabad/New Delhi : With the joyful spirit of the World Cup win still lingering, it was time Monday to herald the New Year in Maharashtra with Gudi Padwa as also in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, while in North India the nine-day Navratri festival began.
In Maharashtra, it was double celebration time. Still savouring teh sweet taste of victory in the Cricket World Cup, people cleaned their houses and decorated the doorways and entrances with intricate rangoli designs, mango leaves and marigold flowers to celebrate Gudi Padwa, the traditional New Year’s Day according to Hindu almanac.
The Navratri – the auspicious festival of nine nights dedicated to Goddess Durga and her nine forms – began in North India with special pujas marked by Vedic chants and hymns.
Maharashtrians raised a ‘gudi’ or mast with a swastika-marked pot and silk cloth tied at top in front of their homes. Men and children were dressed in their finest traditional clothes and women were seen draped in special nine-yard saris.
“The World Cup victory has made our New Year all the more special. In the morning, puja was conducted at our place and I prayed that the celebrations never end,” said Jagruti Sawant, a resident of Kandivli, a suburb of Mumbai.
Several families across Maharashtra brought in the New Year with traditional prayers around the gudi. As part of the tradition, most families ate a paste of neem leaves prepared with jaggery and tamarind, believed to purify blood and strengthen the body’s immune system.
Several processions were taken out through out the state displaying Marathi culture and tradition. A few bike rallies and shobha yatras were also taken out in several areas of Mumbai, including Dadar, Vile Parle and Andheri.
Andhraites and Kannadigas living in Tamil Nadu also heralded the Telugu and Kannada New Year Ugadi with traditional fervour.
People went to temples to perform special pujas for the auspicious day and later visited relatives, friends and neighbours to share Ugadi dishes.
The day started early with everyone in the family taking a head bath. Homes were decorated with kolam or rangoli designs outside the front door. Mango leaf streamers were strung on the door-frames. Gold ornaments were placed before the deity for puja.
“The main dish is the Ugadi pacchidi made with neem flowers, jaggery, mango, green chilli, salt and tamarind juice representing the six different emotions that humans experience. Each of them is taken equally,” Mahalakshmi Ram, a trainer at an IT company, told IANS.
“The Ugadi pacchidi, vada and other goodies are shared with neigbours. We also visit our elderly relatives and seek their blessings,” she added.
Bollywood celebrities Amitabh Bachchan, Bipasha Basu and Madhur Bhandarkar, among others, also wished their friends and fans good luck and wishes on the New Year.
In Lucknow, the Navratri observance began with queues of barefoot devotees carrying red ‘chunris’, bangles, vermilion and other items of rituals offered to Goddess Durga at the temples as early as 5 a.m., particularly at the Kali temple in Chowk locality.
“Today (Monday) is the first day of Navratri, so I have come here along with my family to pay obeisance to Shailputri – the first form of Goddess Durga. We have full faith in her and we believe that all our prayers offered during the period would be answered,” said Manmohan Tripathi, who visited the Kali temple.
Navratri is celebrated twice a year – during spring and autumn.
In Delhi, similarly devotees, holding coconuts, bangles and red ‘chunnis’ in their hands, thronged various city temples since morning.
Long queues of devotees were seen outside temples like Chhattarpur and Kalkaji in south Delhi and Jhandewalan in central Delhi which were all decked up with colourful streamers and marigold flowers.
“I went to the Jhandewalan temple with my family to get blessings and offered coconuts and a chunni,” said 46-year-old Kishan Narang, a resident of central Delhi.
Neha Khurana, 28, planted grains of barley in a pot as part of the festival rituals and her family would worship the pot through the nine days. This custom is indicative of fertility and is known as ‘Khetri’.
The festival is also known for fasting and many devotees survive on fruits, curd, milk and dishes made of water chestnut flour and swang rice. Rock salt replaces the normal salt.
In Andhra Pradesh, thousands of devotees thronged temples to pray for happiness and prosperity in the new year. Special prayers were held at Tirumala, Srisailam and Vijayawada temples.
People also attend special functions where the pundits read out the ‘panchangnam’ or religious almanac of the coming year.