2015
Saturday, 21 March 2015
In 2015 the tithi runs from 3:06 pm on 20 Mar to 11:32 am on 21 Mar; it is running at sunrise (the usual rule, called udaya tithi) on Saturday, 21 March 2015, so that is the day of Ugadi / Gudi Padwa.
2016
Friday, 8 April 2016
In 2016 the tithi runs from 4:53 pm on 7 Apr to 1:05 pm on 8 Apr; it is running at sunrise (the usual rule, called udaya tithi) on Friday, 8 April 2016, 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.