About Ugadi
Ugadi, written Yugadi in Kannada, is the new year for Telugu and Kannada speakers, and in 2027 it falls on Wednesday, 7 April 2027. Families in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka begin the day with a preparation that carries six tastes at once, and end it listening to the year's almanac read aloud in a temple or a hall.
The name is two Sanskrit words joined: yuga, an age or cycle, and adi, the beginning. Kannada keeps the harder sound, Yugadi; Telugu softens it to Ugadi. The formal name in almanacs is Samvatsaradi, the start of the samvatsara.
That word matters. The Hindu lunisolar reckoning runs a cycle of sixty named years, from Prabhava at one end to Akshaya at the other, and each Ugadi begins the next name on the list. When an elderly relative asks which samvatsara is starting, that is what they mean. The name is announced at the almanac reading, along with what it is supposed to promise.
What is Ugadi pachadi?
Ugadi pachadi is the first thing eaten on Ugadi: a small quantity, taken after the puja, and built so that no single taste wins. Nothing else on the day explains Ugadi as well.
| Taste | What goes in | What it stands for |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet (teepi) | New jaggery, bellam | Happiness, the part of the year you will want more of |
| Bitter (chedu) | Neem flower, vepa puvvu | Grief and difficulty, eaten first rather than avoided |
| Sour (pulupu) | Tamarind, chintapandu | Things that turn unpleasant |
| Salty (uppu) | Salt | Fear, and the unknown |
| Hot (karam) | Green chilli or pepper | Anger |
| Astringent (vagaru) | Raw mango, mamidikaya | Surprise, and what you cannot plan for |
The ingredients are the season's own: neem flowers open around the same weeks, mangoes are still raw and hard, and the year's first jaggery has just come off the presses. In Karnataka most households make the simpler two-part version, bevu-bella, neem and jaggery alone, and the phrase has passed into Kannada as a way of describing a mixed experience. Telugu households make the full six-taste pachadi and often carry a cup of it to neighbours.
How is Ugadi celebrated?
Ugadi starts before sunrise with an oil bath and new clothes, goes on to a short puja, the pachadi and a festival meal, and ends in the evening with Panchanga Sravanam, the reading of the new almanac.
- Before sunriseOil bath and new clothes
The house is washed, a rangoli goes down at the door and mango-leaf torans are hung over it.
- MorningPuja and pachadi
A short puja, then the pachadi or bevu-bella is shared. Nobody gets a large portion.
- MiddayThe festival meal
Obbattu or holige in Karnataka, bobbatlu and pulihora in the Telugu states, with raw-mango pickle and a payasa.
- AfternoonKavi sammelanam
Poets read new work in Telugu and Kannada, on stage and on television. For many families this is the day's real entertainment.
- EveningPanchanga Sravanam
A priest or scholar reads the new almanac aloud in the temple: the year's name, the positions of the planets, eclipse dates, and the forecast for rain and crops.
The Panchanga Sravanam is the part visitors underestimate. The panchang is read out as five elements, tithi, vara, nakshatra, yoga and karana, and then applied: what the monsoon is expected to do, which months are good for building or marriage, what the year is said to hold for people born under each sign. Farming families listen closely to the rainfall section. Big readings at Tirumala, Srisailam, Vijayawada and Bhadrachalam draw crowds and are broadcast.
Governments have made the date a civic occasion too. Andhra Pradesh hands out its Ugadi Puraskaram and Kala Ratna awards for literature, music, dance, journalism and social work at the state Ugadi function; in one recent year 161 awards were given at a single ceremony in Vijayawada.
Karnataka and the Telugu states are not the same
| Karnataka | Andhra Pradesh and Telangana | |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yugadi | Ugadi |
| The first taste | Bevu-bella, neem and jaggery | The six-taste Ugadi pachadi |
| Sweet of the day | Holige or obbattu, a stuffed flatbread | Bobbatlu, plus pulihora, the tamarind rice |
| Almanac | Panchanga Sravanam at the temple, widely attended | Panchanga Sravanam, with large televised readings at major temples |
| Public life | State holiday; new film releases timed to the day | State holiday; Ugadi Puraskaram and Kala Ratna awards, big kavi sammelanams |
There is a further split inside Karnataka. Coastal Tulu-speaking families keep a solar new year, Bisu Parba, on 14 or 15 April, the same day as Vishu in Kerala, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Vaisakhi in Punjab. Almanacs call this Souramana Yugadi and the March-April lunar one Chandramana Yugadi, and some Karnataka families observe both. That three-week gap is the difference between a lunar and a solar calendar, not a disagreement about the date.
On the same lunar day as Ugadi, Maharashtra raises the gudi and Sindhi Hindus begin their year with Cheti Chand.
What to write
Ugadi Subhakankshalu, Amma and Nanna. Keep a spoon of pachadi aside for me and tell me what the panchangam says about this year.
Yugadi habbada shubhashayagalu. Bevu-bella both, as always. Hope your share of the bella is the bigger one this year.
Ugadi Subhakankshalu. May the new samvatsara give you more of the jaggery than the neem.
Happy Ugadi to you and your family. Enjoy the holige, and don't open the laptop today.
Ugadi wishes. The pachadi has all six tastes for a reason, and this year you have had more than your share of the bitter ones. Hoping the new one balances out.
Happy Ugadi. No neem flowers where you are, I know. Buy a mango, call home, listen to the panchangam online.
Ugadi Subhakankshalu, Thatha and Ammamma. Save me a seat at the panchanga sravanam this year. I want to hear it properly.
Happy first Ugadi together. May your first samvatsara as a family be mostly sweet, and may you cook the pachadi yourselves at least once.
Do
- Use the right word: Yugadi for Kannada speakers, Ugadi for Telugu speakers.
- Wish in the morning. By evening most families are at the almanac reading or out visiting.
- If pachadi is offered, take it even if you dislike neem. It is a spoonful, and refusing it misses the point of the day.
Avoid
- Don't wish someone "only sweetness this year" on Ugadi. The day says the opposite, and the joke writes itself if you get it wrong.
- Don't treat the panchang forecast as a prediction to argue about. For many families it is part of the ritual rather than a claim to test.
- Don't assume every South Indian keeps Ugadi. Tamil and Malayali friends have their own new year in mid-April, and Tulu families in coastal Karnataka keep Bisu then too.
- Ugadi pachadi
- The six-taste preparation eaten first, after the morning puja
- Bevu-bella
- Kannada for neem and jaggery; the Karnataka version, and a common metaphor
- Panchanga Sravanam
- The public reading of the new year's almanac, usually in the evening
- Samvatsara
- One year in the sixty-year cycle of named Hindu years
- Kavi sammelanam
- A gathering of poets reading new work, held on and around Ugadi
- Obbattu / holige / bobbatlu
- The stuffed sweet flatbread made for the festival meal
- Ugadi Subhakankshalu
- "Ugadi greetings" in Telugu
- Yugadi habbada shubhashayagalu
- "Greetings of the Yugadi festival" in Kannada
How to wish someone on Ugadi
An Ugadi wish lands best when it borrows the logic of the pachadi: not a year of only sweetness, but a year a person can meet on all six counts. Telugu speakers say Ugadi Subhakankshalu, Kannada speakers Yugadi habbada shubhashayagalu. Mention the neem and jaggery, the new almanac, or a poem if your friend follows the kavi sammelanam. Keep promises modest; the day is about accepting a mixed year, not wishing the hard parts away.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + regional language.
When is Ugadi in 2026 and 2027?
Ugadi is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 19 days later than in 2026.
- 2026may vary by location
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is Ugadi in 2027?
Ugadi 2027 falls on Wednesday, 7 April 2027.
What are the six tastes in Ugadi pachadi?
Ugadi pachadi combines jaggery for sweetness, neem flowers for bitterness, tamarind for sourness, salt, green chilli or pepper for heat, and raw mango for astringency. Each taste stands for an emotion the coming year will bring, and eating them together is a way of accepting the year as it comes.
What is the difference between Ugadi and Yugadi?
They are the same festival and the same day. Yugadi is the Kannada form of the name, used in Karnataka, and Ugadi is the Telugu form, used in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The customs differ slightly: Karnataka households usually eat bevu-bella, neem with jaggery, while Telugu households make the full six-taste pachadi.
What is Panchanga Sravanam?
Panchanga Sravanam is the reading of the new year's almanac aloud, usually in a temple on Ugadi evening. A priest or scholar announces the name of the incoming samvatsara and goes through the year's planetary positions, eclipse dates and forecasts for rainfall and harvest.
Why is Ugadi on a different date every year?
Ugadi falls on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day after the new moon of the lunar month Chaitra, so it shifts within the Gregorian calendar and can land anywhere from mid-March to mid-April. In 2027 it falls on Wednesday, 7 April 2027.
How do you greet someone on Ugadi?
Telugu speakers say "Ugadi Subhakankshalu" and Kannada speakers say "Yugadi habbada shubhashayagalu". Both mean good wishes for the festival, and plain "Happy Ugadi" is perfectly acceptable in any workplace.
Why isn't Ugadi celebrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala?
Tamil and Malayali households follow the solar calendar, so their new year begins when the sun enters Aries, around 14 April, as Puthandu and Vishu. Ugadi follows the lunar calendar, which is why it usually comes two or three weeks earlier.
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