Sambalpur/Balangir: Western Odisha is decked up for Nuakhai, the region’s much-awaited harvest festival, with preparations reaching a crescendo as families reunite, traditional rituals take centre stage and the aroma of the season’s new crop fills homes and temples.
For many, Nuakhai is more than a ritual of offering the first harvest to the family deity. It is a celebration of gratitude to the soil, respect for farmers and the renewal of familial bonds. People working and living outside their native places have returned home to celebrate the festival with their families and relatives.
In Sambalpur, devotees have offered new-season agricultural produce to Goddess Samaleswari ahead of the auspicious Nabanna ritual. Saria paddy, kurei leaves, colocasia leaves and vegetables from the fields have been handed over to temple priests by residents of Ambosara Kantapali village as part of the traditional offering. The new paddy will be used to prepare rice and rice powder for the ritual.
The Nabanna offering to the deity is scheduled between 9:40 am and 9:45 am on Tuesday, following which families will partake in Nuakhai.
In Balangir, the festival spirit was visible on the eve of Nuakhai, with temples reverberating with bells, gongs and the beats of panchabadya. Cultural groups and social organisations took out colourful processions as part of the traditional Pahur Yatra.
During the Pahur Yatra, new crops, clothes and other items are carried to temples and peethas for the Nabanna rituals. The Pahur offerings have reached the shrines of Istadevi Pataneswari, Samaleswari, Durga and other deities in Balangir. As part of the tradition, deities are also dressed in new clothes and adorned with ornaments on Nuakhai.
The festival has also kept several community traditions alive. In Mahulbhatta village of Nuapada district, village jhankas continued the age-old practice of visiting homes with new paddy and placing on doorframes. Though the custom is gradually disappearing, it survives in Mahulbhatta and some other rural pockets of western Odisha.
Traditional leaves are another integral part of Nuakhai preparations. While kurei leaves are preferred in many households for serving the new food, some families use mahul leaves. Markets remained crowded as people bought leaves, new clothes and other essentials ahead of the festival.
Several organisations have also stepped in to extend assistance to poor and vulnerable families so that they can participate in the celebrations.
With the rituals ready and families reunited, western Odisha is now waiting for the auspicious Nabanna moment. Nuakhai will mark not only the arrival of the new harvest but also a renewal of relationships, hopes and the traditional spirit of Nuakhai Juhar.
