Gandhinagar: It’s the biggest festival of Gujarati people during the year today. It’s a new year day as per the Gujarati Hindu Vikram Samvat calendar.

While the Vikram Samvat calendar is also used by people in several North Indian states and is the national calendar of neighboring Nepal, the Gujarati Vikram Samvat calendar has its own unique timing. The new year in the Gujarati calendar is celebrated a day after Diwali, though this year, it falls on the second day after Diwali.

One can see footfalls in temples increased by 10-fold or even more on the new year day, which is popularly called ‘Bestu Varsh’ in Gujarati. People clean their houses and decorate entrances with Rangoli art to welcome guests on Bestu Varsh.

Relatives and friends dress up in new cloths and visit each other to convey greetings of ‘Happy New Year,’ ‘Saal Mubarak,’ or ‘Nutan Varsha Abhinandan.’

While in other states, the Diwali festival is celebrated for just one day, in Gujarat, the festivities of the Diwali festival continue for five days for sure and even more. It starts with Dhan Teras and ends at Bhai Beej (Bhai Duj).

The markets are mostly closed during this period. They reopen on ‘Labh Pancham’, the fifth day of the Gujarati new year. ‘Labh Pancham’ is considered an auspicious mahurat to reopen the business after Diwali break. Gujarati tourists can be spotted at all major tourist destinations across the world during this period.

At each Gujarati home, Diwali special sweets and snacks are cooked and served to guests. The people wear new dresses. Houses are decorated with Asopalav torans (made of Asopalav leafs) and marigold flowers. Some of the Diwali-linked traditional food items include Mathiya, Ghughra, Chevdo, and Suvali, among others.

The new Gujarati Vikram Samvat calendar year 2081 will bring numerous developments to Gujarat. The year is expected to witness further progress on the Surat Metro Rail Project and the Sector 1 (Gandhinagar) – Mahatma Mandir section of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project (Phase 2). The Statue of Unity site will gain additional tourist attractions, including a world-class Bonsai Garden. Hydrogen-powered buses may also begin operations in Vadodara.

More Ro-Pax ferry service routes are anticipated this year. Work on two additional flyovers on the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar route at SG Highway is likely to commence. Other highway projects, such as the Ghaduli-Santalpur, Ahmedabad-Rajkot widening, and Mota Chiloda-Shamlaji stretches, are also expected to be completed. The Ahmedabad-Udaipur journey should become smoother and faster with the completion of railway electrification and the launch of express trains.

The Indian Institute of Skills campus may be readied at Nasmed near Ahmedabad this year. Additionally, a hydrogen-powered train is likely to be operational in South Gujarat.

Ahmedabad could benefit from an expanded Riverfront as Phase 2 work progresses rapidly. Groundwork on the Tapi Riverfront project is also expected to begin this year.

Several stations and bridges on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail (bullet train) project are likely to be completed this year. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor is nearing completion, which will significantly enhance rail operations in the state. The Ahmedabad-Dholera Expressway project is set to conclude this year, and most sections of the Gujarat stretch of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway are expected to be finished. So far, the Vadodara-Ankleshwar section is operational, connecting Madhya Pradesh’s border to Godhra, Vadodara, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Kim, Surat, Vapi, and eventually Mumbai.

Phase 1 of the National Maritime Museum at Lothal is likely to be completed this year. Rajkot’s new airport is expected to receive a permanent terminal by mid-year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will mark the Gujarati New Year in the national capital, New Delhi.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, following the tradition established by Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister, will visit the Panchdev Mandir in Gandhinagar to perform puja on New Year’s Day. He will then visit the Nagar Devi (city goddess) Bhadrakali Mandir in Ahmedabad for darshan.

Union Minister Amit Shah will exchange greetings with citizens at his residence in Thaltej, Ahmedabad. He will also inaugurate the 1,100-room Yatri Bhavan at the Kashtabhanjan Hanuman Mandir in Salangpur.

Ravishankar Maharaj, who inaugurated the state of Gujarat in 1960, once wrote about how Diwali and the Gujarati New Year were celebrated over 100 years ago.

Ravishankar Maharaj writes: As Diwali is considered the last day of the year, people would rest, and pause their routine activities. Even poor person would cook good dishes of food. Laddu was cooked very commonly at every home. Businessmen would rope in Brahmins to worship their account books of new year. Ink pot, account book and pen (kalam in those days) were worshiped. Businessmen would take pledge before Brahmins, that they would never enter anything wrong in the account book using the ink and pen they worshipped. On the new-year-day, everyone would wake up early in the morning and hug one another to convey heartily good wishes. One would consume sweets and visit temple in new year morning. In the evening all villagers would gather at one place where Brahmin would read ‘Saar patrika’ in which review of the last year and forecast of the next year would be read out. On this day, younger ones would serve the elders. There was a general feeling that if the first day of a new year passes well, the entire year would be equally good. Ethics and dharma were very much the part of routine life of people. DeshGujarat