Maharashtrians ushered in their new year Gudi Padwa on Monday with food, cultural programmes and colourful processions. The festival marks the first day of the month of Chaitra.
Maharashtrians ushered in their new year Gudi Padwa on Monday with food, cultural programmes and colourful processions. The festival marks the first day of the month of Chaitra.
Doorways were decorated with torans or decorations made from flowers, mango leaves and colourful cloth. Many planted a ‘Gudi’ (a pole decorated with colourful cloth, mango leaves, flowers and a shining brass pot) outside their homes to bring in luck.
Chembur resident Dr Anil Pacharekar, former president of the Mumbai branch of the Indian Medical Council, worked on the day as he believes that any auspicious day is best observed if it is spent in the service of others.
“I believe you should work for the benefit of humanity,” he said. In the evening, he had a puja at a new shop he has bought for his wife. Festive dishes at his house included puran poli, shrikhand with puris and rice and batatyachi bhaji, a potato dish.
Some communities like the Chitrapur Saraswats, who also celebrated the festival, did not hand the ‘Gudis’. “We had a puja in the morning. In the evening, we had Panchang session where the priest read out the almanac for the year,” said Mahesh Kalyanpur, a resident of Talmakiwadi in Tardeo.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had put up Mumbai’s tallest Gudi — 51 feet — in Kurar village at Malad. It was organised by MNS women’s wing vice-president Shalini Thackeray. A number of artistes from the Marathi film industry, including Rima Lagu, Asavari Joshi and Priya Berde were present on the occasion.
Elsewhere in the city, there were ‘Shobha Yatras’ and motorcycle rallies with women and children dressed in traditional attire. Vineet Gore, a commercial supervisor in railways who lives in Vile Parle and organises Shobha Yatra in his area for this day, said, “We had more floats this year. We started the day at 6.30am. Lezim and Dhwaja Patra dance were carried out. This year, we also tried to come out with a Spurti Yatra with larger youth participation. They were asked to wear traditional costumes.”
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