Celebrating Shalivahan New Year (Gudi Padwa)
&
20th Anniversary
Thursday 19 March 2026
Dear family,
We wish you all a very Happy Shalivahan New Year – Gudi Padwa!!
Dearest Shri Mataji, we pray that we will completely surrender our lives to Sahaja Yoga and to spread Sahaja Yoga collectively and with dynamism.
20th Anniversary
2006 ~ 2026
On the 31st March 2006, Her Holiness Shri Mataji blessed the Australian collective with a Gudi Padwa Puja to celebrate the Shalivahan New Year. The Puja was held at Burwood Ashram in Sydney.
Here is a short video of the highlights from that auspicious event.
Worship of Shri Ganesha Shri Gauri on this day in 1981
On this auspicious day, Shri Mataji allowed Her Australian children to worship Her as Shri Ganesha Shri Gauri for the first time at Burwood Ashram in 1981. During the Puja, the classic photo below was taken of Shri Mataji in Her Divine aspect as Shri Ganesha.
HH Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi – Ganesha Puja Sydney 4th April 1981
We celebrate today, by offering Shri Mataji’s Shri Ganesha Shri Gauri talk and full Puja, held at Burwood Ashram in 1981.
“Today is a very unique thing that is happened – is a special luck for Sahaja yogis of Australia. This day has never been celebrated before in the history of Sahaja Yoga. Today is the New Year’s Day for Sahaja yogis, because this is the New Year’s Day of the Shalivahan calendar. As you know, Shalivahan is My dynasty, and they are called as Shalivahan because they are the carriers of the shawls of the Goddess, they are called as the, because – as you are also carrying so many times My shawls around – and they were called as Shalivahan.
So this New Year’s Day is the first day of advent of Goddess – the nine days there are. Then in another times that there are Satya Yug, then there’s Dvapara, Treta, Kali Yuga: there are four yugas. So in two yugas the Goddess incarnated, one before the Satya Yuga and one after it. So, today is the day to mark absolutely the first day when She incarnated on this Earth. That’s the day also of the Gauri, because Virgin is the first form of the Goddess. And She created also Ganesha on Tuesday, just starting this week.”
Shri Ganesha and Shri Gauri Puja 1981 on the occasion of Gudi Padwa
About Gudi Padwa
Shalivahan New Year – Gudi Padwa Puja by HH Shri Mataji 13 04 2002 (Hindi with English Subtitles)
[Partial Translation about Gudi Padwa] So, this day is celebrated because it’s a new year day and also because the new moon appears on this day. Its is called Gudi Padwa. On this day they put up a small pitcher on a stick with a small flag. The pitcher represents the Kundalini. Shalivahana Kings were worshippers of the Goddess and it is said that they used to present a Shawl to the Goddess. They were also called as Satvahanas in the beginning, because they recognised the seven chakras (Satvahana means seven chakras). That’s why they were earlier called as Satvahana but later it changed to Shalivahana. But the symbol of Shalivahana used to be Gudi, means a flag, and above that a pitcher of a particular shape, which represented the Kundalini. They were worshippers of Kundalini. They recognised and worshipped Kundalini. That is the reason that they have made it like this, and all those, who accepted it, also put up a ‘Gudi’ in their houses. You can say they put up a flag. They (Shalivahans) wanted to welcome Kundalini on this day and that is why Kundalini (in the form of pitcher) was exhibited specially on that day.
Shalivahan New Year, Burwood Ashram Sydney 31 March 2006
