Ugadi festivities light up silk city | Bhubaneswar News
Berhampur: Panchanga Shravana (listening to annual predictions), poetry recitations, cultural programs, and the distribution of pachadi, a mixed chutney, marked the grand celebration of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year festival, in Silk City on Sunday.
Around 35 to 40% of the people in Berhampur, a city on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border in Ganjam district, are estimated to be Telugu. Telugu associations in the city jointly celebrated Ugadi this year, said P Satyanarayan, chairman of the Ugadi festival committee.
Dressed in traditional attire, Telugu families, including women and children, thronged temples to seek blessings. A large gathering assembled at a temple on Khaspa Street, where local priest V Vasudeva Sastry read out the Panchanga (Hindu almanac), providing annual predictions. Panchanga Shravana is considered an integral part of Ugadi festivities, said Telugu writer A Srinivash Rao.
Before the predictions were read, devotees shared Ugadi pachadi with relatives and friends. “The Ugadi pachadi is a mix of all tastes, such as sweet, sour, and salty, symbolising the different experiences of life. One must embrace life in the same spirit,” said S Narayan Rao, a retired Telugu professor.
The celebrations continued into the evening with cultural performances, including group dances and songs by local women. The festival committee also felicitated eminent members of the Telugu community and distributed prizes to students who had excelled in various competitions organised by the committee earlier.
Around 35 to 40% of the people in Berhampur, a city on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border in Ganjam district, are estimated to be Telugu. Telugu associations in the city jointly celebrated Ugadi this year, said P Satyanarayan, chairman of the Ugadi festival committee.
Dressed in traditional attire, Telugu families, including women and children, thronged temples to seek blessings. A large gathering assembled at a temple on Khaspa Street, where local priest V Vasudeva Sastry read out the Panchanga (Hindu almanac), providing annual predictions. Panchanga Shravana is considered an integral part of Ugadi festivities, said Telugu writer A Srinivash Rao.
Before the predictions were read, devotees shared Ugadi pachadi with relatives and friends. “The Ugadi pachadi is a mix of all tastes, such as sweet, sour, and salty, symbolising the different experiences of life. One must embrace life in the same spirit,” said S Narayan Rao, a retired Telugu professor.
The celebrations continued into the evening with cultural performances, including group dances and songs by local women. The festival committee also felicitated eminent members of the Telugu community and distributed prizes to students who had excelled in various competitions organised by the committee earlier.
