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 route of Motera – Ahmedabad Airport is likely to get approval from the Centre. The Statue of Unity site will gain additional tourist attractions, including a world-class Bonsai Garden. Hydrogen-powered buses may also begin operations.

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 with pending construction of flyovers. The Ahmedabad-Udaipur journey should become smoother and faster with completion of railway electrification and the launch of express trains.

Micron is expected to start operation at its Semiconductor plant in Sanand. Reliance is likey to operationalize phase-1 of its Giga factory at Jamnagar. Khavda (Kutch) based solar – wind power park will further increase green power generation with increased capacity. Maruti is likely to churn out battery for electric car and may churn out an electric car for Mitsubishi in its Bechraji plant. Phase-1 of Lothal based National Maritime Museum is likely to be completed.

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. Dumas sea-front project phase-1 is likely to open this year in Surat. Groundwork on the Tapi Riverfront project is also expected to begin this year. A committee formed by the State government will submit its report on prevention of floods in the city of Vadodara and the works on Vishwamitri project are likely to kick off 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-Bharuch section is operational. It is expected that at least Vadodara – Kim section will be operationalize this year. The highway stretch in Gujarat aims to  connect Madhya Pradesh’s border to Godhra, Vadodara, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Kim, Surat, Vapi, and eventually Mumbai.

Rajkot’s new airport is expected to receive a permanent terminal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the Gujarati New Year in the national capital, New Delhi and extended ‘Ram Ram’ wishes for the New Year.

નવા વર્ષના રામ રામ !

આજથી પ્રારંભ થતું આ નવું વર્ષ આપના જીવનમાં સુખ, સફળતા અને સમૃદ્ધિ લઈને આવે તથા આપનું આરોગ્ય નિરામય રહે એવી પ્રાર્થના. આગામી વર્ષમાં આપના બધા સપનાઓ સાકાર થાય તથા દરેક દિવસ નવી ઊર્જા અને સકારાત્મકતાથી ભરેલો રહે એવી અભ્યર્થના સાથે નવા વર્ષની અનેક અનેક…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 2, 2024

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 exchanged greetings with citizens at his residence in Thaltej, Ahmedabad. He also took to social media to wish everyone.

ગુજરાતી નૂતન વર્ષની આપ સૌ બહેનો અને ભાઈઓને હાર્દિક શુભકામનાઓ.

આ નવું વર્ષ આપ સૌના જીવનમાં અનેક ખુશીઓ તેમજ ઉત્સાહ લઈને આવે. pic.twitter.com/5inqkWWyaN

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 2, 2024

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