Sambalpur, Aug 28: The much-awaited agrarian festival of Nuakhai was celebrated today across the western districts of Odisha with great pomp, gaiety, and religious fervour. Marking the season’s first harvest, the festival brought together communities in villages and towns as people offered the newly harvested Nabanha crop to their presiding deities at the stipulated sacred hour this morning.
In Sambalpur, Goddess Samaleswari was offered the fresh produce, while in Bolangir, Sonepur, Sundargarh, and Kalahandi, the deities Pateneswari, Sureshwari, Sekharbasini, and Manikeswari were venerated with the season’s first grain. Following the offering, households prepared a wide variety of delicacies from the new harvest, symbolising abundance and gratitude.
A central ritual of the festival, Nuakhai Juhar, saw people exchanging greetings with friends, relatives, and neighbours. Elders were greeted with “Nuakhai Juhar” and in return blessed the younger generation with wishes for happiness, long life, and prosperity.
In rural pockets, the head of each household performed rituals in the paddy fields, praying for a bumper harvest and favourable weather. Women, rising early, decorated homes with colourful rangoli and carried out the traditional rituals with devotion.
Extending her greetings, President Droupadi Murmu wished citizens a prosperous Nuakhai, expressing hope for the well-being of the nation and its people.
Nuakhai, predominantly celebrated in the districts of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Nabarangpur, Deogarh, and Sundargarh, remains one of the most cherished agrarian festivals of Odisha, uniting people in a shared spirit of reverence, gratitude, and festivity.
