Marathi Festivals 2003

Gudi Padwa, Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, is the Marathi New Year — the day the Shalivahan Shaka era increments. It falls in late March or early April, after the spring new moon. The choice ties the year-start to spring renewal and to the legend of Shalivahan's victory, for which the gudi is raised as a banner. It is one of the sade-teen (three-and-a-half) auspicious muhurats of the year, on which any new venture may begin without a separate muhurat. The Gregorian January 1 has no role in the traditional Marathi calendar, though it is of course observed civically.

The sade-teen muhurat (three and a half auspicious moments) are the days of the Marathi year considered so auspicious that no separate muhurat calculation is needed before starting something new — a business, a purchase, a journey, a wedding. The three full ones are Gudi Padwa (Chaitra Shukla Pratipada), Akshaya Tritiya (Vaishakh Shukla Tritiya), and Dussehra / Vijayadashami (Ashwin Shukla Dashami); the half is Bali Pratipada / Diwali Padwa (Kartik Shukla Pratipada). Gold purchases, shop openings, and house-warmings cluster heavily on these days.

Ganeshotsav begins on Ganesh Chaturthi (Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi, late August or September) and runs ten days to Anant Chaturdashi, when the idols are immersed. It is the largest public festival in Maharashtra. The sarvajanik mandals — public Ganesh pandals that Lokmanya Tilak revived in Pune in 1893 as a vehicle for community organisation — sit alongside the household sthapana. The three-day Jyeshtha Gauri worship (Avahan, Pujan, Visarjan) by married women falls within the same window. Check the Bhadrapad month view for the exact 2026 Gregorian dates.

Vat Pournima is observed in Maharashtra on Jyeshtha Purnima (June), when married women fast and circle the vat (banyan) tree with thread, praying for their husbands' long life in memory of Savitri who won back Satyavan from Yama. North India observes the same Savitri vrat fifteen days earlier, on Jyeshtha Amavasya, calling it Vat Savitri. The two are the same legend on different tithis — Maharashtra ties it to the full moon, the north to the new moon. This calendar carries both, on their respective days.

The Wari is the great Vaishnav pilgrimage to Vitthal's temple at Pandharpur. Warkaris walk for weeks behind the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar (from Alandi) and Sant Tukaram (from Dehu), singing abhangs, to arrive on Ashadhi Ekadashi (Ashadh Shukla Ekadashi, June or July). A second Wari arrives on Kartiki Ekadashi in November. Ashadhi Ekadashi is also the start of Chaturmas, the four sacred months ending on Prabodhini (Kartiki) Ekadashi, during which weddings and other major auspicious functions are traditionally avoided.