In Telugu and Kannada Hindu traditions, it is a symbolic reminder that one must expect all flavors of experiences in the coming new year and make the most of them.

[7] Ugadi has been an important and historic festival of the Hindus, with medieval texts and inscriptions recording major charitable donations to Hindu temples and community centers on this day.

[8] The same day is observed as a New Year by Hindus in many other parts of India, such as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Goa and is a national public holiday in Mauritius.

[11][12] The Kannada, Telugu, Kodava and the Tulu diaspora in Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu celebrate the festival with great fanfare; gatherings of the extended family and a sumptuous feast are 'de rigueur'.

People also clean the front of their house with water and cow dung paste, then draw colorful floral designs.

One is also reminded that the experience of taste is transitory and ephemeral; so too, is life, and one has to learn to put pain and pleasure in proper temporal perspective.

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, foods such as pulihora, bobbatlu (Bhakshalu/ polelu/ oligale), New Year Burelu and Pachadi, and preparations made with raw mango go well with the occasion.

Of these, pachadi (or Ugadi pacchadi) is the most notable, and consists of a chutney-like dish which combines ingredients to give all six flavours of food : sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and astringent.

In addition, a speciality of yugadi in Karnataka is to create "bEvu-bella" a mixture of neem and jaggery, to signify both the sweet and the bitter or the sihi-kahi(ಸಿಹಿ-ಕಹಿ).