Chennai

For the second year in a row, the festival is being celebrated on a subdued note amid the COVID-19 pandemic. People offered special poojas in temples and in the spruced-up pooja rooms in the houses which were tastefully decorated with flowers and leaves. The Hindu households prepared dishes including the sweet and sour ugadi pachadi which signifies the bitter and sweet flavours of life. President Ram Nath Kovid and Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people on the occasion. Modi, who tweeted his greetings, said: “Ugadi is a special festival about hope and new beginnings. May Ugadi bring abundance of happiness and prosperity in everyone’s lives”.