Ugadi Festival on 21-03-2015 and Happy Ugadi to all !!! Ugadi marks the beginning of a new Hindu lunar calendar. It is a day when mantras are chanted and predictions made for the new year. The most important thing in the festival is Panchanga Shravanam – hearing of the Panchanga. The Panchanga Shravanam is done at the temples by the priests. Before reading out the annual forecasts as predicted in the Panchanga, the officiating priest reminds the participants of the creator – Brahma, and the span of creation of the universe. The reading of the Panchanga then involves reading of other Tidhis (wealth and prosperity) during the year and ends with h a forecast for various sectors of the social life and the strengths and effects of various constellations and their transitions. The scriptures state that the benefits reaped by the listener as well as the reader, are equivalent to having a dip in the holy river Ganges. The individuals hearing the Panchanga should respectfully ‘thank’ the reader and offer him new clothes and seek his blessings