Gudi Padwa is the Maharashtrian New Year festival celebrated on the first day of the Chaitra month. On this day, a gudi (a bamboo staff decorated with neem and mango leaves, sugar crystals, and an inverted copper pot) is raised outside homes as a symbol of victory and prosperity. Firecrackers are not traditionally associated with Gudi Padwa, and the gudi is not a flag but a sacred religious symbol.