Every spring, Hindus in many parts of India celebrate Gudi Padwa to mark the beginning of the harvest season and the traditional new year.
While heralding the arrival of spring and the reaping of crops, the festival is linked to the mythical day on which the Hindu god Brahma created time and the universe. To some, it also commemorates the coronation of Ram in Ayodhya after his victory over the evil Ravana – and therefore marks the triumph of good over evil.
While it is a massive festival in Maharashtra and the South Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – where it is known as Ugadi – the festival is not pan-Indian. Hindus in other parts of India mark the occasion under different names, and on varying dates.
Gudi means flag, while padwa comes from a Sanskrit word meaning the first day of a lunar fortnight.
When is Gudi Padwa or Ugadi?
The festival marks the start of Chaitra, the first month of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, and it generally falls in late March or early April of the Gregorian calendar. This year, it falls on Sunday, March 30.
The first day of the festival also marks the beginning of the nine-day Chaitra Navratri festival, observed by some Hindus. There are four Navratri festivals annually in the Hindu calendar, with the Sharada Navratri, or the autumn Navratri, considered the most important.
How is it celebrated?
For observers, the day usually begins with a ritual shower early in the morning and the application of perfumed oil, followed by prayers.
Gudis are hoisted outside homes to bring good luck. A gudi usually consists of a bright silk scarf tied to the top of a bamboo stick. Boughs of neem, considered to be of divine origin, are also tied to the top, along with flowers. The arrangement is capped with an upturned copper or steel pot. Gudis are believed to ward off evil and invite prosperity.
Homes are thoroughly cleaned and decorated with colourful rangolis – patterns on the floor or ground made using flour, rice grains and coloured chalk – to bring good fortune.
In Maharashtra, huge street processions take place, with revellers dressed in their traditional best to hoist gudis and dance to music. In South India, the festival is marked by family gatherings, sumptuous feasts and prayers.
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
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• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
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