SAMBALPUR: Festivities gripped Western Odisha as people celebrated Nuakhai, the agrarian festival of the region with much pomp and grandeur. The ‘Nabanna’ or rice out of newly-harvested paddy crop was offered to Goddess Samaleswari, the presiding deity of undivided Sambalpur, on Tuesday.
The new harvest was offered to the Goddess at the stipulated ‘lagna’ between 10.05 am and 10.20 am. During the scheduled time, households also offered ‘Nabanna’ to their respective ‘Ista Debata’ (presiding family deity) and Goddess Laxmi as mark of gratitude and prayed for favourable farming weather for a bumper crop.
President of Samaleswari Temple Trust Board Sanjay Baboo said “Nabanna was offered to Goddess Samaleswari as per the fixed lagna. The presiding deity of Sambalpur was dressed in new saree and ornaments on the occasion.” As a practice, the Nabanna was also offered to other deities (Paswa debata) on temple premises after which the devotees were allowed a darshan of Goddess Samaleswari only after completion of ‘Maha Alati’ ritual,” he added.
Similarly, Patneswari Devi was worshipped in Balangir, Sureshwari Devi in Sonepur and Sekharbasini in Sundargarh.
The festival saw equal participation of both, men and women. As per tradition eldest male member of each family in rural areas worshipped their paddy fields, cattle sheds and cattle. Women, who play a pivotal role in the celebration, wake up before dawn and prepare for the rituals like drawing ‘Jhuti’ (rangoli) in their houses and cooking special delicacies. Some of the traditional dishes cooked in every household include ‘muga bara’, ‘ras bara’, ‘suji manda’, ‘chaula manda’, ‘kakra pitha’ along with Kheeri besides ‘saru’ and ‘saru saaga’ (taro plant leaves), ‘makhan saag’ (leaves of pumpkin creepers) and ‘kardi’ (bamboo shoots cut into julienne).
People also thronged temples to seek blessing of the Goddess and in the evening, Nuakhai Bhet Ghat were organised by different socio-cultural organisations and greetings were exchanged with the traditional ‘Nuakhai Juhar’.