When India Celebrates Multiple New Years!

 

 

In a glorious example of unity in diversity, people of different Indian communities  all over the world celebrate their new year over the next few days, on April (13^th/14^th/15^th). Bengalis would call it Poila Boishakh, Assamese Bihu, Punjabis Baisakhi, Sindhis  Cheti Chand, Malayalis Vishu, Maharastrians Gudi Padwa, Telegu and Kannada-speaking people would celebrate Ugadi,  Odia speakers Pana Sankranti and Tamil-speaking Indians Puthandu (the title pic is of Puthandu kolam in a Tamilian household).

 

Not for nothing is India known as the land of festivals.  When in India…a festival by any other name would be as …celebrated?  In general, this particular festival coincides with the first day of the Hindu calendar, so Happy New Year everyone!  Since the first month of the calendar is called Vaishakh (Baisakh/Boishak), the first day itself is called Vaishakhi or Baisakhi. (This falls around the 13^th or 14^th of April of the English calendar every year). Hence, the festival that falls on this first day of Vaishakh is called Vaishakhi (or, that’s right, Baisakhi).

 

All over India, it’s that time of the year when the fields are filled with golden crops, ripened and ready for harvesting. For the farmer, it’s the time to reap the hard-earned fruits (grains) of his labour.  India was (still is) a largely agrarian economy, so the day marks a time of plenty.  It’s also the season of spring, when Nature fills every bough and branch with flowers and fruits. Hence families celebrate the first day of Vaishakh as a day of thanksgiving: for the abundance of grains, fruits and flowers that Nature has blessed them with.

 

Although it’s called by many names, this is the common thread that runs through the celebration everywhere.  Householders clean up their homes, take a ritual bath/dip in the holy rivers, be it Ganga, Jhelum or Kaveri (this is the day when Ganga is believed to have descended from the heavens at the Brahma Kund in Haridwar) and worship their Gods, offering them the first of the fruits, flowers and grains that they have blessed the worshippers with (Malayali households make arrangements of flowers, fruits and grains and call their friends and relations to come over and admire the Vishukanni or “the lucky sight”).  People visit their temples or holy shrines, invite friends and family home to party, offering them gifts, to share in the abundance and splurge at fairs and festivities, giving alms to the needy. Wearing new clothes (puthukodi), lighting up fireworks and eating special goodies (jaggery and sattu in UP, fried gram cakes in Himachal, sadya a mix of sweet, salt, bitter and sour in Kerala, a drink called pana in Odisha which is a mix of wood apple, mango, jaggery and pepper, eating sweetened rice or tihri amongst the Sindhis). The whole ambience is one of gratitude and sharing the abundance.   

Vishu in Kerala: Vishnukani, the 'lucky sight' -- worshipping Lord Vishnu (in the form of Krishna) with an offering of the best of flowers, fruits and grains 

 

Pana Sankranti: On the right, the customary clay-pot with a small opening for water to drip over the Tulsi in the backyard, and on the right, a glass of pana, a cooling drink of wood apple (bel), mango juice, pepper and jaggery

In Maharashtra, as in Bengal, houses are cleaned up and floors decorated with intricate, colourful patterns called rangoli in Marathi and alpona in Bengali that echo the burst of colours in Spring.  Both in Maharashtra and Goa, womenfolk prepare special dishes that are mixture of sweet and bitter (gur, gul) with sour (tamarind) along with poori, shrikhand and/or puran poli.  For Ugadi celebrations in Karnataka and Andhra, a garland of bella and bevvu (mango and neem leaves) is hung over doorways, and special pacchadi (a dish of sweet, sour, salty and bitter ingredients) is prepared and eaten as a welcoming precursor of life’s sweet and bitter experiences in the year to come.

 

The Ugadi platter:  With mango, jaggery, chilli, tamarind and neem representing the tastes of life

The Gudi Padwa Rangoli in a Maharashtrian Home

In Assam and Bengal, everyone wears new clothes, worships Lord Ganesh and Goddess Lakshmi for prosperity with special offerings of sweets and gifts to mark the occasion.  It’s a time of family gatherings with lots of good food, when youngsters take the blessings of elders and everyone greets each other with ‘Shubho Nabobarsho’ (Happy New Year). In Assam particularly, Bihu is a time of much community singing and dancing to the beat of the drums.  

 

Poila Boishakh: Alpona on the passage floor

Street Alpona in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Shubho Naboborsho: Worshipping Ganesh and Lakshmi

Bohag Bihu: Dancing and singing in the customary white and red to the sound of drumbeats 

For the Sikh community, this day is of special historical significance as it marks the day of the coronation of Guru Gobind Singh as the ninth guru and the foundation of the Sikh/Khalsa community to protect Hindus and fight their persecution by the Mughal rulers to convert to Islam. In subsequent years, it was on this day that Ranjit Singh was proclaimed king of a unified Punjab to defy the British; it also marks the day of the Jallianwala massacre by General Dyer on a Baisakhi gathering. Gurudwaras and temples all over Punjab are decorated; people offer a drink of sweetened water cooled in earthen pitchers mixed with seasonal fruit, (called chabeel) at street corners. Community fairs and kirtans (congregational singing of hymns/holy songs) are organised. Wearing turbans and clothes of a bright yellow colour and eating foods coloured yellow (such as jalebis) is considered auspicious. The entire area around the Golden Temple is awash with a sea of yellow as Sikhs congregate in a festive mood to celebrate melas or fairs. Baisakhi is considered an auspicious day for getting married or starting any new ventures in business or education or otherwise.     

Baisakhi: Oye jatta aai Basakhi! 

However, the Gujarati and Rajasthani communities celebrate their new year called Bestu Varas closer towards Deepawali in October, whereas the Buddhists celebrate Losar in February. The Parsi New Year Navroz is celebrated in March, in July or in August, depending upon the calendars the particular section of the community follows.  Yes, you are right again...in India, New Year celebrations last the whole year!    

Over the next three days, even in far-off US, UK Canada, Australia, Srilanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and in parts of the Far East, people of Indian origin will celebrate the many forms of Vaisakhi as a day of thanksgiving, festivities and togetherness and of new beginnings, with friends and family in attendance.  

 

Leftrightthodasacenter.blogspot.com wishes all Indian communities across the globe a most warm, prosperous and happy new year (but do be mindful of your masks and social distancing!) As always leave your comments in the section below, and remember to read, share and subscribe.

Image credits: Google