Ugadi is a unique Indian festival that is broadly seen in the Southern regions of India. The South Indian natives observe this festival to celebrate the arrival of Vasant Ritu (Spring season). This particular festival marks the New year in southern India. The two eminent and exciting elements of the Ugadi festival are fresh mangoes and Cuckoo songs (traditional Tamil songs).
What Is Ugadi Pachadi?
At the Ugadi festival, the local people prepare Ugadi Pachadi, a traditional South Indian food drink that feels as well as tastes like an elixir. Ugadi Pachadi has six different tastes that represent different flavors of life. Since the preparation is made out of 6-distinct ingredients, this is called ‘Shadruchulu’ or six Taste.
Ingredients of Ugadi Pachadi:
- Jaggery brings a sweet taste that represents Joy or happiness in life.
- Tamarind adds the sour punch, which symbolizes unpleasantness in our life.
- Chili or black paper to add a bit of hot and spiciness that in general represents anger.
- Salt for a salty flavor that stands for fear.
- Neem brings bitterness like the emotion of sadness.
- And lastly, unripe mango. It adds a tangy twist to the dish, just like we got surprises in every stage of our lives.
In this entire preparation, Neem plays a unique and crucial role. From ancient times, Neem was considered a significant ingredient due to its infinite medicinal values. Some people also named it as “pharmacy of the village.”
Benefits of Ugadi Pachadi
The preparation is a complete blend of various medicinal ingredients. Therefore, it’s pretty natural to have some scientific reasons and benefits of Ugadi Pachadi.
- Neem has exceptional medicinal values as the ingredient acts as an antibacterial and antifungal medicine in the human body. It detoxifies and purifies the body.
- Ugadi Pachadi enhances immunity and also prepares a person to fight infections.
- The preparation also treats several skin diseases, malaria, diabetes, viral fever, and so on. It also destroys intestinal parasites, if any.
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