One day, many festivals mark onset of Chaitra

Lucknow: It’s the first day of Chaitra month—New Year by the Hindu calendar—and members of Sindhi, Maharashtrian, Kannad and Kashmiri communities are celebrating it each as ChetiChand, GudiParva, Ugadi or Navroh, according to their individual tradition. A united celebration is organised and huge processions are taken out by Sindhis across the city to celebrate Cheti Chand, the birthday of their deity Jhulelal, an incarnation of Varun dev.
“There are around 350 Maharashtrian families in the city and on Gudi Parwa we follow the ritual of making elaborate rangolis (floor art) and setting up a ‘Gudi’ outside our homes,” said Deepak Abhyankar, a private professional who is also a member of the Maharashtrian Samaj. ‘Gudi’, he explained, is an installation comprising a small pot inverted on a wooden pole with a silk saree and a garland of flowers wrapped around and it is worshipped on the ‘parv’(occasion), hence the name Gudi Parva.
According to Kannad folklore, Lord Bramha began the creation of the universe on this Ugadi day. Besides meeting friends and relatives, Kannad community members in the city visit the temple and offer a garland of jasmine flowers to their deity. This day is also marks the beginning of the spring season. “My daughter is born and brought up in Lucknow so she doesn’t have much insight into our traditions and culture, so I make it a point to narrate stories revolving around our tradition, especially on Ugadi,” said Sunidhi Adiga, who migrated to the city from Karnataka with her husband 16 years ago.
Though there are not many Kashmiri families in the city, those who reside here said they follow traditions associated to the day without making much pomp and show. “On the eve of Navroh, we set a metal plate filled with rice paddy topped with dried flowers, sprouts, walnuts, curd and weed grass as a symbol of sanctity,” explained Richa, a Kashmiri, adding that on the day of the festival, the youngest member of the family gets up before dawn and takes the plate to every member of the family to see it.