2009
Friday, 27 March 2009
In 2009 the tithi runs from 9:35 pm on 26 Mar to 8:34 pm on 27 Mar; it is running at sunrise (the usual rule, called udaya tithi) on Friday, 27 March 2009, so that is the day of Ugadi / Gudi Padwa.
2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
In 2010 the tithi runs from 2:31 am on 16 Mar to 4:07 am on 17 Mar; it is running at sunrise (the usual rule, called udaya tithi) on Tuesday, 16 March 2010, so that is the day of Ugadi / Gudi Padwa.
How the date is fixed
Ugadi / Gudi Padwa falls on the first day of the bright half of the lunar month Chaitra (Shukla Pratipada). The date is the day on which that tithi is running at sunrise (the usual rule, called udaya tithi).
About
Ugadi in the Telugu and Kannada regions and Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra both fall on Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, the first tithi after the Phalguna new moon, in March or April. This is the start of the amanta lunar year and of the new samvatsara in the sixty-year cycle. The tithi at sunrise is taken; if Pratipada is absent at sunrise, the previous day is used. The same day begins Chaitra Navratri in the north, and in Kashmir it is Navreh.
How it is observed
Homes are decorated, a gudi is raised in Maharashtra, and the panchang for the new year is read aloud (panchanga shravanam) in the south.