Sambalpur, September 15: Senior BJP leader and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday joined Nuakhai festival in Sambalpur and partook 'Nabanna' (newly harvested rice) at party leaders' residence as festival fervor gripped western Odisha.
Pradhan first visited the residence of BJP Sambalpur district unit president Ramachandra Meher, where he participated in Nabanna feast with the the family members of Meher and party leaders. Later, he offered prayers at the Maa Samaleswari temple.
“I am very fortunate to participate in the Nuakhai festival at the residence of the Ramachandra Meher, the Sambalpur district unit president of our party and partaking Nabanna with his family members. Nuakhai symbolises gratitude to our elders. The essence of Nuakhai lies in togetherness,” posted Pradhan on ‘X’.
In Sambalpur, the season’s first grains were offered to Maa Samaleswari, the region’s presiding deity, during the stipulated lagna (time) fixed earlier. On this auspicious ocassion, the goddess was adorned with new attire and ornaments, and Nabanna was subsequently offered to all deities within the temple premises.
Similar rituals were also performed and Nabanna was offered at the shrines of Pataneswari in Balangir and Patnagarh, Sureswari in Subarnapur, Manikeswari in Kalahandi, and Sekharabasini in Sundargarh during the lagna fixed separately for each temple, marking the festive spirit across western Odisha.
Nuakhai, western Odisha's major agrarian festival, was being observed today with traditional fervour and gaiety, with families offering Nabanna to their presiding deities and celebrating the occasion with the near and dear ones.
Homes in western Odisha, particularly in Sambalpur were decorated with traditional jhotis in the morning of the Nuakhai, while women prepared delicacies from the new harvest. In the evening, cultural programmes and Nuakhai Bhet-Ghat events were organised, where people exchange greetings with the customary “Nuakhai Juhar”.
