Happy Ugadi ‘uga’ means era and ‘id’ beginning. Englis Translation = New year Time is constantly slipping away and every moment we are drawing closer to our final settlement. That is when a balance will be weighed -- of good and evil, of joy and sorrow, and the other dualities of life. So symbolically we savour the bitter-sweet bevu-bella---a mixture of jaggery and neem leaves---on Ugadi, which is a milestone of the completion of a year and the beginning of another. The jaggery and neem signify that we must accept these dualities and experiences with equipoise, develop a taste, and get our priorities right---take the serious seriously and the frivolous frivolously---otherwise we lose out on opportunities. Earlier, agriculture was central to everything, even festivals. Time of Transition Ugadi is celebrated after a harvest is reaped and seeds for the next crop are sown. Ugadi is a time of transition. Even psychologically, this is the time when you reflect on the year that has gone by and look forward to a fresh year, with trees full of fresh leaves, the air fragrant with flowers just blooming, and mangoes. It is Vasanta maasa, spring. There’s a freshness about animals, birds, plants and trees, about Nature itself. Maavu (mango) and bevu (neem) go together. A rich source of vitamin C, delicacies like maavinkayi chitranna (rice-flavoured with raw mango) are common during the festival. References from the Past There have been references to new year celebrations right from the Vedas all the way through the Kalpasutra, Dharmashastra and Itihasas and the Puranas, including Ramayana and Mahabharata. More recently, apart from the famous Bendre song ‘Yuga yugaadi kaledaru’, the janapada (folk) tradition is replete with descriptions of Ugadi. How Ugadi is celebrated has more to do with family tradition than any particular text or treatise. According to Bhagavad Gita, a human being has to develop two facets of himself or herself: buddhi or intellect, and bhaava or sentiment, a feeling of the heart. While our scriptures and other texts cater to the former, festivals help us become more emotionally balanced. All in all, Ugadi, like our other festivals, is remarkable for its social aspect---you meet family and friends---besides its psychological, philosophical and agricultural aspects. via - newindianexpress/cities/bangalore/Ugadi-and-the-Game-of-Time/2014/03/31/article2141098.ece#.UzjpQVca3Qg
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:26:47 +0000
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