Gudhi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the traditional new year for Marathi Hindus. It is celebrated in and near Maharashtra on the first day of the Chaitra month to mark the beginning of the New year according to the lunisolar Hindu Calendar.
1) The word पाडवा (pāḍavā) or पाडवो (pāḍavo) or पड्ड्वा/पाड्ड्वो (pāḍḍvā/pāḍḍvo) comes from the Sanskrit word प्रतिपद (pratipada) or प्रतिपदा (pratipadā) in Sanskrit, which refers to the first day of a lunar fortnight.
2) The festival is observed with colorful floor decorations called rangoli, a special Gudhi flag (garlanded with flowers, mango and neem leaves, topped with upturned silver or copper vessel), street processions, dancing, and festive foods.
3) Konkani Hindus variously refer to the day as सौसार पाडवो or सौसार पाडयो (saṁsāra pāḍavo / saṁsāra pāḍye), संसार (saṁsāra) being a corruption of the word संवत्सर (saṁvatsara).
4) Telugu Hindus celebrate the same occasion as Ugadi, while Konkani and Kannada Hindus in Karnataka refer to it as युगादि, ಯುಗಾದಿ (yugādi).
5) The same new year festival is known by other names in different regions of the Indian subcontinent. However, this is not the universal new year for all Hindus.
6) 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.
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