When is Gudi Padwa 2027?

In New Delhi, Gudi Padwa is on Wednesday, 7 April 2027. It is Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first day of the bright half of Chaitra, and Pratipada runs 5:21 AM to 4:29 AM (8 Apr). The same day is Ugadi in the South, the first day of Chaitra Navratri and the start of the new Vikram Samvat.

Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.

There is no separate classical muhurat for the gudi: it is raised in the morning, after the oil bath and soon after sunrise (6:04 AM), and taken down before sunset (6:42 PM). Families who like an auspicious span raise it in one of the morning's good choghadiyas, listed here with the rest of the day's (Labh: 6:04 AM to 7:39 AM; Amrit: 7:39 AM to 9:14 AM; Shubh: 10:48 AM to 12:23 PM; Chal: 3:33 PM to 5:07 PM; Labh: 5:07 PM to 6:42 PM).

Tie a bright silk cloth to the top of a long bamboo staff with neem twigs, mango leaves, a flower garland and a sugar garland, and crown it with an upturned copper or brass pot marked with a kumkum swastika. Raise it after sunrise beside the main door or on the terrace, worship it with haldi, kumkum, flowers and a lamp, and take it down before sunset.

A gudi is the flag-like staff raised at the door, and padwa is the Marathi word for Pratipada, the first day of the lunar fortnight. So Gudi Padwa is the Pratipada of the gudi: the first day of Chaitra, the lunar new year, when the gudi is raised as a sign of victory and welcome.

It is the lunar new year: tradition holds that Brahma began creation on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, and the gudi is raised as his flag. Maharashtra also remembers Rama's return to Ayodhya and King Shalivahana's victory, whose Shaka era begins on this day. It opens the year's harvest season and Chaitra Navratri.

Yes, they are the same new year's day, Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, under different names and customs: Maharashtra raises the gudi and eats neem with jaggery; Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana call it Ugadi, eat the six-taste pachadi and hear the panchang read. North India keeps it as Hindu Nav Varsh and the start of Chaitra Navratri.

Ugadi falls on the same day as Gudi Padwa, Chaitra Shukla Pratipada: Wednesday, 7 April 2027 in New Delhi. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the day begins with an oil bath and mango-leaf torans at the door, the Ugadi pachadi is eaten first, and the year's panchang is heard in the evening. Coastal Karnataka's Souramana Ugadi, the solar new year, is kept separately, at Mesha Sankranti.

Ugadi pachadi is the first food of the Telugu and Kannada new year, a mix of neem flowers (bitter), new jaggery (sweet), tamarind (sour), raw mango (astringent and tangy), a pinch of salt and green chilli or pepper (hot). Eaten together, the six tastes say the year will bring every kind of experience, and all are to be accepted.

Chaitra Navratri begins on this day, Pratipada, Wednesday, 7 April 2027 in New Delhi. The kalash, or ghatasthapana, is set up in the morning while Pratipada runs (5:21 AM to 4:29 AM (8 Apr)), traditionally in the first part of the day; if that is not possible, the Abhijit muhurat (not observed on a Wednesday this year) is the usual alternative while Pratipada still lasts.

Lists of a colour for each day of Navratri are a recent popular custom, and different sources give different lists, so this page does not present one as a rule. Traditionally red and yellow are worn for the goddess's worship; wear what is clean and bright.

Hindu Nav Varsh is the lunar new year of North India, beginning on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, when the new year of the Vikram Samvat begins; in Maharashtra and the Deccan the Shalivahana Shaka year turns on the same day. The year numbers change every year, and calendars print them on this date.

Telugu and Kannada calendars name each year from a cycle of sixty samvatsaras, beginning with Prabhava; at Ugadi, the panchanga shravanam announces the new year's name and its forecasts for rain, crops and each sign. The name changes every year and is printed in the Ugadi panchangam.

Chandramana Ugadi, kept on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, is the lunar new year followed in most of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Souramana Ugadi is the solar new year, kept when the Sun enters Mesha by communities of coastal Karnataka that follow the solar calendar; the same solar new year is Vishu in Kerala and Puthandu in Tamil Nadu.

The day begins with neem and jaggery, or the Ugadi pachadi, and the festive meal is puran poli or shrikhand-puri in Maharashtra, obbattu or holige in Karnataka and bobbatlu with mango pulihora in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Those starting the Navratri fast eat fruit and phalahar.

Tradition counts Gudi Padwa among the most auspicious days of the year: in Maharashtra it is one of the sade teen muhurat, the three and a half days held auspicious in themselves, with Akshaya Tritiya, Dussehra and, as the half, Diwali Padwa. Many families buy gold, a vehicle or a home, or start a business, on it, and some choose a good choghadiya of the day (Labh: 6:04 AM to 7:39 AM; Amrit: 7:39 AM to 9:14 AM; Shubh: 10:48 AM to 12:23 PM; Chal: 3:33 PM to 5:07 PM; Labh: 5:07 PM to 6:42 PM); the decision itself should rest on sound financial sense, not on the date.