Me, Myself and Life

The controversy regarding the Ugadi date in 2007 continues.

The Andhra Pradesh government has declared holiday for Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, on March 19 instead of March 20. The government had consulted several scholars, writers of panchangams and Seers to fix the date. The government had earlier declared a holiday on March 20.

But some scholars are not happy with the March 19 Ugadi.

From a report in the Indian Express:

Telugu New Year day Ugadi should be celebrated on March 20, not 19 as ‘Padyami’ will be present till 6.33 a.m on March 20, says Yaddanapudi Ayyannapantulu.

He said in a press release that the principle of ‘Tithi’ (‘Sukla Padyami’ in this case) should be taken into account. The presence of Sukla Padyami till the time mentioned above, is called ‘Sparsa’ and it is the mathematical aspect that ought to be considered in ascertaining the day which heralds the New Year (Ugadi) as it had been done for centuries.

’Sparsa’ should be taken into consideration for the New Year Day, Ayyannapantulu observed.
To make matters worse there is a Solar Eclipse on March 19. And some astrologers feel observing Ugadi on this day will bring ill luck to the state.

Incidentally, the annual Ugadi Asthanam at Srivari Temple, Tirumala is on March 20 according to the Tirupati official web site.

Ugadi is also the Kannada New Year and it is being celebrated on March 19. So far there has been no reported change of dates in Karnataka even though the controversy exists.

taken from -- here --