SSC
Puthandu, also called Varusha Pirappu, is celebrated as the New Year in which state?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option C — Tamil Nadu
Detailed Solution
Puthandu, also called Varusha Pirappu or Tamil New Year, is celebrated in Tamil Nadu and by Tamil communities in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries. It falls on the first day of the Tamil month of Chithirai, usually on 14 April.
Puthandu marks the beginning of the Tamil solar year, when the sun enters the zodiac sign of Aries (Mesha). On the day before, families clean their homes, and on Puthandu morning, they decorate the entrance with kolams (designs drawn with rice flour) and with mango leaves. A custom similar to Kerala's Vishukkani is followed in many homes: on the night before, a tray is prepared with fruits (especially mango, banana and jackfruit, the three special fruits called "mukkani"), flowers, betel leaves, coins, jewellery and a mirror, and family members look at it first thing in the morning for good luck. People take a bath, wear new clothes, visit temples and greet each other with "Puthandu Vazhthukal" (Happy New Year). Elders bless the younger members of the family and give them money.
A special dish called "mango pachadi" is prepared on this day. It is made with raw mango, jaggery, neem flowers, chilli and salt, and its mixture of sweet, sour, bitter and spicy tastes symbolises the different experiences of life, like the Ugadi Pachadi of Andhra Pradesh. The new almanac (panchangam) is read in temples, predicting the events of the new year. Many temples hold special festivals, and the Chithirai festival of Madurai begins in this month.
Puthandu falls on the same day as other solar New Year festivals of India, such as Vishu (Kerala), Baisakhi (Punjab), Bohag Bihu (Assam), Pohela Boishakh (West Bengal) and Pana Sankranti (Odisha).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Kerala celebrates Vishu on the same day.
- ✗Karnataka celebrates Ugadi in Chaitra as its New Year.
- ✗Andhra Pradesh celebrates Ugadi as the Telugu New Year.
Quick tip
Remember: Puthandu (Varusha Pirappu) = Tamil Nadu, the first day of Chithirai (14 April) and the mango pachadi.
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Festivals & Fairs of India Questions
View all ›- Q1.The Sarhul festival of Jharkhand, celebrated with traditional dances when the sal trees blossom, is especially associated with which tribe?
- Q2.'Chad Sukra', a popular traditional dance festival of the Pnar (Jaintia) people of Meghalaya, is celebrated as a:
- Q3.Which festival, celebrated in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, honours Gogaji, the folk deity worshipped as a protector against snakes?
- Q4.The 'Doul Utsav', a celebration of Holi linked with the Vaishnava satras, is mainly celebrated in which state?
- Q5.The Bhagoria festival of the Bhil tribes of Madhya Pradesh is associated with which major festival?
More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.