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| Gudi Padwa |
Gudi Padwa is one of the auspicious occasions, celebrated by the Indians mainly by the people of Hindu religion. It is considered as a Hindu festival. The people of Maharastra regard Gudi padwa as the start of a new year. Gudi padwa is regarded as the occasion of buying new things like new house, new ornaments etc. It is like a public holiday for the Maharastrians. The elder members of the families take rest from their work and the children do not go to school in this particular day. Maharastrians celebrate this day as the beginning of New Year though most of them are unaware of the significance of the festival.
Gudi Padwa is a day of celebration. On this particular day people take part in cleaning their houses. In villages people swept clean their courtyards and then plaster the courtyards with cow dung. Women draw beautiful rangoli designs at their doorsteps. On this day people make a paste of the leaves of neem tree and then mixed the paste with gul, tamarind, ajwain and jaggery. The festival is generally begun with the eating of neem leaves by the family members. People are used to eat Chana usal and soonth panak on this day.
India is full of the festival. Gudi Padwa is one of them. Some Maharashtrians consider Gudi as the symbol of victory. This symbolizes the conquests of great Maratha forces which were led by the brave hero Chhatrapati Shivaji. But actually ‘gudi’ is a pole on the top of which a Kalash is placed. This kalash is a silver pot or an unturned brass. In the time of Gudi Padwa festival, you can see gudis are prominently displayed or these are hanging out of the windows in the traditional households of the Marathas. In this time the members of a family go to their neighborhood family with sweet and some kind of goodies.
