MUMBAI: After two years, people across Maharashtra celebrated Gudi Padwa, the start of the Marathi new year, with pomp and fervor as there were no pandemic-related restrictions to worry about.
All restrictions including the mask mandate would be lifted from April 2, the state government had announced two days ago.
The auspicious day marks the start of the Hindu new year for Marathi- and Konkani-speaking people.
Processions of women and men decked up in traditional attire and jewelry, absent from the celebrations in the last two years due to the pandemic, returned to the streets this year.
The highlight of the processions in Marathi-dominated areas in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane and Dombivali were women wearing nine-yard sarees and turbans riding motorbikes, accompanied by dhol-tasha bands.
Gudi Padwa is celebrated on the first day of the Hindu month of Chaitra.
The hallmark of the day is the `Gudi' or `Gudhi', an upturned silver or copper vessel mounted on top of a bamboo stick, draped in a piece of cloth and garlanded with strings of flowers, mango and neem leaves and sugar crystals, erected outside houses.
While delicacies like Puran Poli and Shrikhand are prepared on this day, partaking of a mixture of bitter neem leaves and sugar is also a part of the day's rites.