Gudi Padwa puja, Noida, India, 18 March 1999 Translation from Hindi: Today is the Day of Gudi Padwa [The New Year’s Day of the Shalivahana shak]. And it is celebrated in Maharashtra mostly, but now in other places too. It is said that it is a very auspicious day. Whatever work is done on that day it is fruitful. But whatever is the reason is as per worldly beliefs.The other thing is that, in the dynasty of Shalivahana, there was one person: Babruvahan. He defeated the king Vikramaditya. After that, he started this new calendar called ‘Shalivahana Shak’. According to this calender, today is the first day [of the year].Its importance is major in Maharashtra. To represent the Shalivahanas, they take a Kumbha [and a stick] on which they put a shawl – he was Shalivahana. The Kumbha represents the Kundalini. They tie a shawl [to the stick] and keep a Kumbha on top of it. The meaning is that the Kumbha also represents spirituality. Spirituality is represented by the Kumbha.The Shalivahanas used to call themselves the seven vehicles. They had a lot of faith in Kundalini. Later, they started giving a shawl to the Devi. They were worshipers of the Devi so they called themselves the Shalivahanas. That is how the name got changed. The Shalivahanas who were there, came from Mewar. They were the rulers of Mewar from the Sisodia Dynasty. Their son, of Sisodia dynasty, for some reason, had a disagreement with his uncle. So, he ran Read More …