Jaunted

Holidays

Indian Holidays: Ugadi

March 29, 2006 at 9:20 AM | 0 Comments

Being a clueless-but-learning foreigner in India means being surprised by things that the locals wouldn't think to mention. I knew that tomorrow was going to be a holiday named Ugadi, but what was going to happen?

Turns out Ugadi is New Year's, which begins during a springtime new moon. This isn't an India-wide holiday -- it's the people in the south India states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andra Pradesh that will be celebrating.

I'm not expecting any Holi-like antics, though. It's a time to get right spiritually, doing things like planning for the year ahead and checking out traditional dance and music. It's also traditional to eat both jaggery (palm sugar) and the bitter flowers of the neem tree -- the coming year, after all, is likely to be a little sweet, and also a little bitter. -- John Rambow