New Year Eve In India

Although New Year traditions vary in different parts of India, 31^st December has become a national festival over the years. You will find the excitement and enthusiasm about celebrating the eve of welcoming the New Year all over the country. The day is celebrated with a lot of fervor and prayers’, parties, New Year fetes and social feasts are organized everywhere.

Here is an Interesting list of how & when the various states around the country celebrate their New Year’s Day in different times of the year. 

Maharashtrian  New Year

Gudi Padwa is the Maharastrian New Year. This day is celebrated on Shuddha Pratipada, the first day in the Hindu month of Chaitra (March-April). Festivities of Gudi Padwa lasts for three and a half days. The word ‘padwa’ means the end of one harvesting season and beginning of another. According to Brahma Purana, Gudi Padwa is the day on which universe was created by Lord Brahma, Satyug began and Lord Ram returned Ayodhya after defeating Ravana.

 Punjabi / Sikh (Nanakshahi) New Year

Baisakhi Festival, also called Vaisakhi, holds great importance for the Sikh community and farmers of Punjab. Baisakhi falls on April 13 or 14, the first day of the year according to the Nanakshahi Calender. Sikhs also celebrate this day in honor of their tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Baisakhi commemorates the day when the Sikh Guru eliminated caste differences and founded Khalsa Panth in1689.

Gujarati New Year

Gujarati New Year is celebrated among all the major festivities in the month of October. It is celebrated on the next day of Diwali. Gujarati New Year is synonymous with sudekam of the kartik month - it is the first day of first month of Gujarati calender. Bestu Varas is New Year in Gujarati and Varsha-pratipada or Padwa are other names of the same.

Bengali New Year

If you are in Bengal at the time of mid April, you will hear people wishing each other “Shubo Nabo Barsho“. It is celebrated as a Bengali New Year. This festival usually falls in the month of April which is the month of Baisakh, first month of Bengali New Year. The festival of Nabo Barsha was introduced was the great Mughal emperor, Akbar.

Marwari New Year

Marwaris of Rajasthan consider Diwali as their New Year. They believe Diwali to be an auspicious day to venture into new projects and thus celebrate it as New Year’s day. It usually falls in the month of October - November. The Marwari New Year is celebrated with great charm and exuberance in almost all parts of Rajasthan.

Assamese New Year

Bohag Bihu is the national festival of Assamese as it marks the beginning of the New Year. Rituals and customary practices of Bohag Bihu starts from April 13. There are three forms of a Bihu festival namely Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu (in the middle of April), Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu (middle of January) and Kaati Bihu or Kongali Bihu (in October/ November).

Sikkimese New Year

Losoong is the New Year for the people of Sikkim. It generally, falls in the month of December and marks the end of harvesting season. The highlights of the festival are Chaam dances and archery contests.

Tamil New Year

The month of Chittrai (April - May) embarks the time of festivities in Tamil Nadu. Tamil’s New Year Day “ Puthandu” is celebrated on April 13 or 14 every year (according to the Gregorian Calender). People greet each other “Puthandu Vazthukal” which means Happy New Year. This auspicious day is also popular as Varusha Pirappuv. As per the Hindu mthyical legends, Lord Brahma started creation of the universe.

Telugu New Year

Ugadi marks the advent of the Telugu New Year. The name of the festival derived from “Yuga Aadi” which means New Age. According to the Chandramana system (Shalivahana Shaka), Telugu New Year falls on Chaitra Shuddha Prathipade. It is the first day of the Lunar calender. Like any other religion, Telugu New Year celebrations also has a legend behind it. Hindu mythology says Lord Brahma, created universe on Chaitra Shuddha Prathipade. Since then, this day is celebrated as a New Year’s day.

Malayalam New Year

Vishu festival or Malayalam New Year falls on the first of Malayalam month of Medam (March-April). A number of rituals and customs are associated with the festival. It’s not a pompous festival but more of a homely affair. People of Kerela like to spend it with their family members.

10 Tips on Planning a New Year’s Party - Click here

More Parties and Events - Click here

Want to write here ? - click here

Find Travel agents and more travel packages - Click here

Order Cakes and Chocolates in Bandra, Mumbai

Find Restaurants in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz - Click here

Shopping for Gifts in Bandra? Look for some options here - click here

Mumbai Terror - 5 patriotic songs for Mumbai

Attack on Mumbai - What will change?

Find and place free ads for Bandra Restaurants, Indian Restaurants in Bandra, Chinese Restaurants in Bandra, Italian Restaurants In Bandra, Goan and Coastal food in Bandra, Coffee Shops in Bandra, Japanese Restaurants in Bandra, Vegetarian Restaurants in Bandra, Thai Restaurants in Bandra, South Indian Restaurants in Bandra. Also find restaurants in Khar and Santacruz on mybandra.com.

Find and post free classifieds for Bandra, Khar and Santacruz for services like Sports, Academics & Study Abroad, Car Pool, Tution Teachers, Dance Classes & Hobby Classes, Pets, Play Schools & Nursery, Cookery Classes, Adventure Treks, Charity, Need Help & offer Help in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz. 


After a month of Terror Attacks on Mumbai something has changed in Mumbai and still not much has changed. The public remains as angry as they were on November 26th as not much has been done to make us all feel safer and to ensure such a terror attack will not hit Mumbai or any other part of the country again.

The politicians remain as cozy as ever and continue to do live on as it the attack on Mumbai never happened. The politicians in Maharashtra from Vilasrao Deshmukh to Narayan Rane and Antulay did their bit to add to the anger. The public lead by some leaders within us all have started political and non political movements to tap into this anger and work to see how we can improve things in Mumbai, we all wait to see how many of them can survive the tough needs of public life and hope most of them continue their effort.

So at the end of one month after the Mumbai Terror Attacks where we lost almost 200 near and dear ones we try to look back once again and salute the people who fought an unfair battle with the terrorists who attacked us and saved so many lives. These brave men left behind their families and one of the things we need to do as citizens of Mumbai is to ensure their families live a good life and are taken care of.

Where the mind is without fear

Here are the names of the Martyrs who dies in the Mumbai attacks of November 2008

Mumbai Policemen killed in Mumbai Terror Attack in November 2008

Shri Hemant Karkare (IPS), Joint Commissioner Of Police, Anti Terrorist Squad, Mumbai

Shri Ashok Kamte (IPS), Additional Commissioner Of Police, East Region, Mumbai.

Shri Vijay Salaskar, Police Inspector, Anti Extortion Cell, Mumbai.

Shri Shashank Shinde, Police Inspector, C S T Railway Police Station, Mumbai.

Shri Prakash P. More, Police Sub Inspector, L T Marg Police Station

Shri Bapusaheb Durugade, Police Sub Inspector, L.A.1, Naigaon

Shri Tukaram G. Ombade Asst. Police Sub Inspector, D.B.Marg Police Station

Shri Balasaheb Bhosale, Asst. Police Sub Inspector

Shri Arun Chitte, Police Constable

Shri Jaywant Patil, Police Constable

Shri Yogesh Patil, Police Constable

Shri Ambadas Pawar, Police Constable

Shri M. C. Chowdhary, Police Head Constable, R.P.F.

Shri Mukesh B. Jadhav, Home Guard Constable

NSG and Indian Military personnel killed in Mumbai Terror Attack in November 2008

NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

NSG Commando Gajendra Singh

Here are 4 options listed for you to contribute money to the Mumbai Terror hit Families

1. Mumbai Police has opened an account A/c No. 30601590516 in the name of the ‘Commissioner of Police’ at at State Bank of India, Naigaon Branch, Mumbai.

The nodal officer’s contact details are as follow:

Shri Vijay M Jadhav
Dy Commissioner of Police, HQ (I)
Office of Commissioner of Police
Opp. Crawford Market
Mumbai- 400001

Phone- 022-22620043

Please send your cheques to the above address with the Bank Details as mentioned above.

2. The Bombay Community Public Trust, as a city based community foundation, has responded in the past by setting up a Mumbai Disaster Relief Fund through which victims and their families have been helped.

Here’s what BCPT aims to do with your money:

* Get a list of those affected or families of those injured or deceased from the Mumbai Police and / or State Government.
* Identify and locate the affected persons, verify their credentials and make home visits.
* A case history of each victim / family contacted will be prepared.
* Number of families / victims not wanting to accept our support will be compiled and reported.
* For those injured, support for medical treatment will be given after verification of medical treatment taken / to be taken, expenditure incurred / to be incurred and coverage through medical insurance if any will be ascertained. Major injuries would require long term hospitalisation and treatment. The duration and quantum of support will be decided on the basis of each case individually.
* For those who have died, a compensation amount will be paid to the family / next of kin, scholarships for studies and training to their children and resettlement of the family may also be considered.
* Amounts which will be disbursed will be paid by cheque to the next of kin.
* Periodical updates on the progress of the injured person will be maintained and donors can view this on : HelpMumbai.pinstorm.com
How do you donate?
To donate you can click here. In case you wish to send in a Cheque/Demand Draft or contact us, you could do so by writing into bcpt@vsnl.com or call us at 022-22845928.

You can also donate online on: BCPT Mumbai Terror Help Site or HelpMumbai.pinstorm.com (a help page hosted by Pinstorm for BCPT - Good work Pinstorm)

3. Followed by the recent series of heinous terrorist attacks on several public places in Mumbai that took away the lives of some of our brave police personnel, Mumbai-based Trade Association of Information Technology (TAIT) has taken up a noble task in their immediate agendum.

All donation cheques should be in the name of ‘TAIT’. Those may be sent to C. W. Kadwadkar, Secretary, TAIT at 304, Kilfire House, Kilfire House Premises Co-op Society, C-17, Dalia Industrial Area, New Link Road, (Near) Fun Republic Cinema, Andheri (W), Mumbai 400053.

Contextually, all donations to this effect are exempted from tax as per rules under 80-G of Income Tax Act. Besides its primary objective of trade promotion, TAIT’s timely action in the social arena is obviously praiseworthy. The organization has just received Rs. 1,00,000 from Xerox for this cause. This shows Indians from all walks of life are always united for the national causes and welfare of the society.

4. An option NRIs to Donate for Mumbai Terror Victims

INDIA DEVELOPMENT & RELIEF FUND (IDRF), INC. [Tax - Exempt Public Charity under U.S. Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3)]
The recent terrorist attack in Mumbai has once again impelled the NRI community to revitalize the Special Fund, established by IDRF following the 1999 Kargil War. The Fund was named MNIF (Martyrs for National Integration Fund). Thanks to the confidence in IDRF reposed by the community and the sustained dedication of our volunteers, IDRF has made grants totaling $331,875 towards the relief, rehabilitation and self-empowerment of the War/Terrorism/Militancy affected families of soldiers/security personnel, etc..

Please generously contribute to this Special Fund. You may:
Log on our website at http://www.idrf.org and make a generous donation via PayPal.
Issue a check in favor of “IDRF”, mentioning “terrorism victims” in Memo item, You may hand over your check to one of our volunteers or mail to the following address:
IDRF, 5821 Mossrock Drive, North Bethesda, MD 20852-3238

Lets empty our pockets to help improve the lives of the families impacted by the Mumbai Terror attacks. If you run an NGO and want to be listed here add your listing in our NGO listing page.

Mumbai Attacks - Thanks for awakening us.

Mumbai Terror - 5 patriotic songs for Mumbai

Attack on Mumbai - What will change?



New year is around the corner. You can make the last day of the year fantastic by celebration at home with a few close friends as the city is not in a mood to celebrate in a big way. Because of the horrific multiple terror strikes in Mumbai coupled with economic slowdown, most of the clubs, restaurants have cancelled their New Year’s Bash. Don’t let all this crush your party spirit.

New Year’s Eve is considered the biggest party of the year so plan your party well by keeping these points in mind - Budget, Guest list, Space, Music, Ambience/Decoration, Fun Activities, Food and Bar.

Here are 10 Tips to paln a good new year party at home.

1) Stock up on all your party snacks and drinks 2/3 day in advance. You don’t have to worry about too much cooking. Cook a few and order a few.
The way to go on New Year’s Eve is to serve light snacks, cocktails or finger foods instead of a sit-down dinner. This will give people the opportunity to mingle with each other and will not restrict them to the dinner table.
Arrange all your food onto platters an hour before you are expecting your guests cover them with aluminum foil and place them in the fridge until party time.

Find Restaurants in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz - Click here

2) Make sure you have a variety of both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. Also have a hot coffee option on hand for those who will hang on even after the party is almost over.

3) Arrange plenty of ice (at least 20/15 cubes per person), enough glasses (at least two per person), cocktail napkins, tissues and backups of everything (hidden in the kitchen or under the bar).

4) If you are waiting for the occasion to open your champagne, this is it. Make sure you have some bubbly to cork open when the clock strikes twelve. It’s a good idea to have champagne flutes handy.

5) Keep your TV room neat and tidy in case your guests wants to watch TV for some time to check how the world is celebrating.

6) Decorate your home with streamers ( you can choose a color theme) the day before the party. Order balloons just to add party mood and pick them up the morning of your party along with the extra ice you will need. Think of also having party hats, confetti, horns, noisemakers, and tiaras.

For Florist and Decorators - Click here

7) Organize a buffet table in the afternoon and arrange cutlery, plates and  glasses on the table but don’t forget to leave space for the food platters. Use paper cups, plates, and plastic cutlery to avoid things from breaking and to avoid having to do the dishes the morning-after if you have many guests and no domestic help.

8 ) Select the music you will play a few days in advance of your party and program it into your system or burn a few CD’s. Your play list should include dance, dance, and more dance and some slow music for when things get mellow.

9) Ask your friends to write down their New Year’s Resolution/wish on a piece of paper and put it in a self addressed envelope. Send these envelops to them the next year end and they will be delighted to received it. This special treat only requires a few envelopes, paper and pens gathered in advance. . Many of your friends will meet or exceed their goals next year and you will be amazed at the many thank-you calls and stories that come back to you from the letters!

10) Be in your best mood and wear your smile when your guests arrive. Plan your prep time and menu around your available time and budget. Relax and realize that even if you serve Dominos Pizza your guests will make that a part of something memorable.

Have a great New Year’s, party and make sure your friends are not driving back drunk.

Do write to us about your party, MyBandra would love to share your party experience, Photos, Tips, New Year Resolutions/Wishes with all our members.

Want to write here ? - click here

Find Travel agents and more travel packages - Click here

Order Cakes and Chocolates in Bandra, Mumbai

Find Restaurants in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz - Click here

Shopping for Gifts in Bandra? Look for some options here - click here

Mumbai Terror - 5 patriotic songs for Mumbai

Attack on Mumbai - What will change?

Find and place free ads for Bandra Restaurants, Indian Restaurants in Bandra, Chinese Restaurants in Bandra, Italian Restaurants In Bandra, Goan and Coastal food in Bandra, Coffee Shops in Bandra, Japanese Restaurants in Bandra, Vegetarian Restaurants in Bandra, Thai Restaurants in Bandra, South Indian Restaurants in Bandra. Also find restaurants in Khar and Santacruz on mybandra.com.



Christmas is the time for shopping and people in Bandra are famous for the same.