Marks the Hindu new year and the start of the Shaka Samvat era. Homes raise a gudi — a bright cloth on a pole topped with an upturned kalash and neem leaves — outside the door. Tradition holds this as the day Brahma began creation, and the day Shalivahana's legendary victory began the Shaka calendar.
महाराष्ट्र, कोंकण
Some households also link the day to Rama's return journey toward Ayodhya after his fourteen years of exile, and Maharashtrian tradition separately ties it to Chhatrapati Shivaji's military victories, invoked at some city processions.
Beyond raising the gudi, families prepare a bittersweet neem-jaggery paste eaten first thing in the morning, symbolizing life's mixed nature, and string torans of mango leaves over the doorway. Mumbai and Pune hold large public shobha yatra processions through the day.