Traditional New Year Festivals | 15 Apr 2022

Why in News?

The President of India has greeted people on the eve of Chaitra Shukladi, Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Cheti Chand, Vaisakhi, Vishu, Naba Barsha, Vaisakhadi and Puthandu-Pirappu and Bohag Bihu.

• These festivals of the spring season mark the beginning of the traditional new year in India.

What are the Traditional New Year Festivals?

• Vaishakhi:
  • It is also pronounced as Baisakhi, observed by Hindus and Sikhs.
  • It marks the beginning of Hindu Solar New year.
  • It commemorates the formation of Khalsa panth of warriors under Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
  • Baisakhi was also the day when colonial British empire officials committed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at a gathering, an event influential to the Indian movement against colonial rule.
• Vishu:
  • It is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala, Tulu Nadu region in Karnataka, Mahé district of Union Territory of Pondicherry, neighbouring areas of Tamil Nadu and their diaspora communities.
  • The festival marks the first day of Medam, the ninth month in the solar calendar in Kerala.
  • It therefore always falls in the middle of April in the Gregorian calendar on 14^th or 15^th April every year.
• Puthandu:
  • Also known as Puthuvarudam or Tamil New Year, is the first day of the year on the Tamil calendar and traditionally celebrated as a festival.
  • The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, as the first day of the Tamil month Chithirai.
  • It therefore falls on or about 14^th April every year on the Gregorian calendar.
• Bohag Bihu:
  • Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu also called Xaat Bihu (seven Bihus) is a traditional aboriginal ethnic festival celebrated in the state of Assam and other parts of northeastern India by the indigenous ethnic groups of Assam.
  • It marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year.
  • It usually falls in the 2^nd week of April, historically signifying the time of harvest.
• Naba Barsha:
  • Naba Barsha is the celebration of the new year in West Bengal as per the Bengali Calendar.
  • It is also popularly known as the PoilaBaisakh which literally translates to first Baisakhi (a month in the lunisolar calendar of the Bengalis).
    • The people of Bengal come together and celebrate this new year in their own way by making it loud and magical like every other Bengali festival.
  • The festival is celebrated by all castes and religions all across Bengal.
  • After Durga Pooja, this is the second most hyped festival in Bengal, this festival connects the people of Bengal, especially the Bengalis who are originally Hindu.

Source: PIB