Bhubaneswar, April 8: The Telugu and Marathi communities observed their respective New Year's Day -Ugadi and Gudi Padwa - today with celebrations at home and community gettogethers. The celebrations featured cultural programmes and feasting on traditional cuisine.

People belonging to the Telugu community decorate the entrances to their houses with garlands of woven mango leaves. They also wear new clothes and preparing traditional dishes at home. "We prepare a special type of chutney called ugadi pachidi on the occasion. It is made with mango bits, tamarind pulp, sugar, salt, chilli and neem ground together. Consequently, all the flavours - sweet, sour, bitter, hot and salty - can be tasted all at once," said V. Karuna, a member of the Telugu community in Bhubaneswar.

While Berhampur saw a large number of Telugus celebrating, Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput and Rayagada district also saw sporadic celebrations. In Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, some members of the two communities got together today while others plan to celebrate tomorrow. "We hosted a community feast and some dance and song programmes by children of the community," said Rama Rao, one of the participants of the Ugadi celebrations that took place in Unit-IV.

The Marathi community in Bhubaneswar organised a Satyanarayan Puja and members distributed sweetmeats to celebrate Gudi Padwa."Members of the community met at our community centre and greeted and wished each other for the New Year. We will host a gettogether later this month when everyone can find time from their respective jobs for a grand celebration," said C.P. Singhote, a member of the Marathi Mandal established in 1982 in Bhubaneswar.

When it came to traditional dishes, shrikhand and puran poli were shared by the Marathi people at the Mandal in Rupali Square.