What to do on Ugadi, Ugadi Rituals & Customs

What to do on Ugadi? What are the rituals and customs of Ugadi festival? Ugadi is celebrated as Telugu New Year in Andhra Pradesh and Kannada New Year in Karnataka. This is day is popularly known as Marathi New Year or Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra. Here is the list of rituals and customs of Ugadi day in a brief manner:

Thailabhyangana snanam or ceremonial bath:

Thailabhyangana snanam or the ceremonial oil bath is performed on in the early morning on Ugadi. Devotees observe Brahma Puja as he was created the universe on this day.

Ugadi Puja:

Ganapati Puja, Lakshmi Narayana Puja, Uma Maheshwara Puja, Vani Hiranyagarbha Puja, Shachi Indra Puja, Arundathi Vasishta Puja, etc are also performed on Ugadi for happiness and prosperity.

Ugadi Pachadi:

Ugadi Pachadi or the Ugadi special recipe is offered in Puja and distribute it as Prasadam after the puja.

Ugadi Panchanga Shravanam:

In the evening Panchanga Sharavanam is done. Panchanga Shravanam means hearing astrology predictions of the year by the Brahmins.

Chalivendram or Free water camp:

Some enthusiastic and king hearted people start free water camp (Chalivendra) during the festival and continue it for coming four months (summer).

Ugadi celebrations in temples like Tirumala Tirupati temple, Dwaraka Tirumala Temple, SriSailam Bramaramba Mallikarjuna temple, Dharmastala Manjunatha temple, Sringeri Sharada temple, Horanadu Annapurna temple, etc. attract lakhs of devotees from all over the country.