About This Festival
Ugadi is the traditional New Year festival celebrated mainly in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The name Ugadi comes from Sanskrit Yuga + Adi, meaning "the beginning of a new age or era," and the festival welcomes the arrival of a new year according to the lunisolar calendar. It is celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada — the first day of the bright fortnight of the month Chaitra — usually in March or April. In Karnataka it is known as Ugadi, while in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana the same New Year observance is generally called Yugadi. People clean and decorate their homes, wear new clothes, visit temples and prepare a special dish called Ugadi Pachadi. This dish contains six different tastes — sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty and astringent — and these six tastes represent the different experiences that life can bring during the coming year: happiness and sadness, success and difficulty, pleasant and unpleasant experiences. So the message of Ugadi is much deeper than simply celebrating a New Year. It teaches that life will contain its full range of experiences, and we should accept the complete journey with balance and optimism.
Where to Celebrate
Plan Your Visit
Ugadi in Karnataka — new clothes, temple visits and the six-flavoured Ugadi Pachadi marking a new year — is a wonderful cultural experience.
View JourneyCelebrate Ugadi in Karnataka — the six tastes of Ugadi Pachadi represent the full range of life's experiences in the year ahead.
View Journey
October – March
Bangalore · Hassan · Mysore · Ooty · Kochi · Munnar · Periyar · Kumarakom · Thottapalli · Kovalam · Trivandrum
October – March
Bangalore · Mysore · Hassan · Hospet · Hampi · Pattadakkal · Ajhole · Badami · Goa
Upcoming dates to be confirmed. Enquire with Om for the latest information.
Om will design your itinerary to arrive at the perfect moment.
