Sambalpur, August 27: Western Odisha districts are all set to be observe this year’s Nuakhai on September 8.
The Lagna (propitious moment) for offering Nabanna (newly harvested rice) to Goddess Samaleswari, the presiding deity of Sambalpur district, has been finalised.
The auspicious time for the Nabanna offering, known as Nabanna lagna, has been determined to be between 09:12 am and 09:27 am on August 8.
Nuakhai, an agrarian festival, will be celebrated across western Odisha following the Nabanna offering to Goddess Samaleswari. According to the Odia almanac, this festival falls on the fifth day of the lunar fortnight of the Bhadraba month. Each year, the Brahmamandap Pandit Mahasabha at Brahmapura temple decides the auspicious time for the festival's celebration, a day after Janmashtami.
The festival is observed with much pomp and gaiety across the Western Odisha districts of Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Bargarh, Subarnapur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, and Boudh, marking the reaping of new crops.
