Ugadi has been an important and historic festival of the Hindus. The name Yugadi or Ugadi is derived from the Sanskrit words yuga (age) and ādi (beginning): "the beginning of a new age". The pacchadi festive dish symbolically reminds the people that the following year – as all of life – will consist of not just sweet experiences, but a combination of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter episodes. Just as the different substances are bound together, one is reminded that no event or episode is wholly good or bad. Even in the midst of bitter experiences, there are sweet moments. One is also reminded that the experience of taste is transitory and ephemeral; so too, is life, and one has to learn to put pain and pleasure in proper temporal perspective.
On this day, all the people of the state unite and enjoy to the fullest together. The festival falls according to the lunisolar calendar. It is the first day of the New Year and the people welcome the first day with great joy and celebrations. It is believed that if the first day of the starting year is spent happily, enjoyment will follow the rest of the year. At this festival, all the people welcome the first day of the year with a great celebration. They also prepare a special dish called ‘Ugadi Pachadi’.
The special dish is made using ingredients like raw mango, neem, jaggery, tamarind with chilly and salt in it. Other popular dishes are also prepared including bobbatlu, holige, puliogure, and pulihora. Besides this, people also display a chain of mango leaves on their door to welcome happiness in their life.
