Ugadi

Ugadi (literally - the start of an era) is the new year's day for the people of the Deccan region of India. While the people of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka use the term Ugadi for this festival, the people of Maharashtra term the same festival, observed on the same day, Gudi Padwa.

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The festival marks the new year day for people who follow the southern Indian lunar calendar, pervasively adhered to in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. This calendar reckons dates based on the Salivahana era (Salivahana Saka), which begins its count from the supposed date of the founding of the Empire by the legendary hero Salivahana. This Empire is generally accepted as being that of the "Rashtrakutas", also known as the "Andhra Dynasty". The Salivahana era begins its count of years from the year corrosponding to 78 AD of the Gregorian calendar. Thus, the year 2000 AD corrosponds to the year 922 of the Salivahana Era.

Deccan: The Deccan Plateau is a vast plateau in India, encompassing most of Central and Southern India. The name Deccan is anglicised form of the Prakrit dakkhin, itself derived from the Sanskrit dakshina, meaning south. It comprises the whole of peninsular India south of the Vindhya range and has an elevat...

India: The Republic of India is a country in South Asia which comprises most of the Indian subcontinent. India has a coastline which stretches over seven thousand kilometres, and shares its borders with Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh...

Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh (ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశం in Telugu) (Āndhra Prādesh), is a state in south-eastern India and is part of the linguistic-cultural region of South India. It lies between 12°41' and 22°N latitude and 77°...