Indore enters celebratory mode

The heat of summer may be scorching, but it did not stop the citizens from celebrating the beginning of a New Year according to their community calendar. The festival that goes by many names like Gudi Padwa for Maharashtrians, Cheti Chand for the Sindhis and Ugadi for Telgu and Kannada speaking communities was celebrated with much fervour among citizens. Right from the community celebration at Rajwada chowk early in the morning yesterdat, to gearing up for the Ugadi rituals today, Indoreans are having a celebration weekend.

Raising the Gudi for a new beginning

It has been a tradition for the Maharashtrians residing in

Indore

to assemble at the Rajwada Palace in their fineries and raise the ceremonial Gudi together and exchange sweets and pleasantries. Sarthak Deshmukh, a banker in the city says, “The community celebration at Rajwada is good only, but I miss the dhwaj rally, and the overall vibe of Kolhapur. But one has to keep moving, so we have a small notional celebration at home to keep ourselves happy.” While the main celebration happened at six in the morning at the old

Holkar

palace, Marathi households also welcomed the New Year at their respective homes. Rajashree Throat, an entrepreneur from the city says, “It was not an ostentatious affair, but more of a close knit family thing. We got up early in the morning and got the Gudi ready for ceremonies. Once it was raised and prayer for a fresh and auspicious beginning was said, we prepared the special dishes like

puran poli

, shreekhand, kothimbir wade. As it is also a celebration of harvest, we prepared kairi panna with the season’s first kairi (raw mangoes).”

The harvest festival of Ugadi

Celebrated prominently in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, this harvest festival and welcoming of New Year has also made its place in urban households. In Indore, the Telgu and Kannada community get together and organise pot luck spread of festival delicacies to be enjoyed after pooja. “To celebrate the occasion, people from our community prepare traditional food of which rice, jaggery and raw mango are the primary ingredients. There is Ugadi pachadi, dry fruits payasam, tamrind rice and a special South India poli called Obattu which is similar to Maharashtrian Puran Poli” says a member of the Telgu Samajam in Indore and a Sanskrit teacher. Not the one to leave their roots behind Priyanka Shastri, a socialite who grew up in Belgaum and moved to Indore recently shares, "Back there, Ugadi is a major celebration across the town and women catch up after pooja wearing their silk fineries, carrying puliodarai, payasam etc. As I was missing the celebration from Belgaum, I am arranging celebration at my home in the same Kannada manner today for my friends and family.”