SAMBALPUR/BHAWANIPATNA/SUNDARGARH: Nuakhai was celebrated with pomp and fervour on Thursday in the western Odisha regions. In Sambalpur, the year’s first harvested crop was offered to goddess Samaleswari at the stipulated lagna (auspicious moment) between 10.56 am and 11.10 am. While the goddess was decorated with new saree and ornaments, the priests performed the rituals as per tradition.
On the day, thousands of devotees thronged the temple to offer prayers to the goddess. While in 2020, due to Covid restrictions, people were prohibited from visiting Samaleswari Temple, in 2021 devotees got to visit the temple only within a fixed time slot of four hours in the afternoon.
Sources said, locals were filled with enthusiasm as all the rituals of Nuakhai were performed in the usual manner. People residing near Samalei Mandir gathered around the temple during the lagna and witnessed the rituals. Meanwhile devotees kept pouring into the temple till evening.
On the other hand, people also observed Nuakhai bhetghat in their respective homes. For many who could not come home due to the pandemic in the last two years, it was an unforgettable get-together with family members. The Nuakhai rituals were also performed on the same lagna in Bargarh district.
In Kalahandi too the festival was celebrated with much enthusiasm in phases. In the first phase, the festival was celebrated in Patharla and Bahadur padar villages on August 28. The villagers celebrated the festival on the first day of Bhadrab Shukla after offering newly harvested rice to the local tribal deity, Dharani. As per folklore, the tribals from the area had assisted Naga dynasty king in the war against Ganga rulers and in return asked the king to allow them to offer new rice to the deity.
In the second phase, the festival was celebrated at Junagarh, Dharamgarh, Kalampur, Golamunda, Narla and Karlamunda blocks on the day. Devotees thronged Lankeswari temple in Junagarh, Bhandargharia in Dharamgarh and Budharaja in Ampani. In Salepali village under Karlamunda block, the festival is celebrated in a different manner.
In the village, all people irrespective of their socio-economic status partake ‘nabanna’ after offering the same at the temple. Around 1,200 people consumed ‘nabanna’ together in a show of unity and solidarity. Similarly, in Palsapada village in Narla, 226 members of a family partook ‘nabanna’ together.
In the third phase, the festival will be celebrated in the khalsa and zamindari areas as per age-old tradition on September 5.
The people of Sundargarh district celebrated the day with traditional gaiety. While the non-tribal devotees offered bhog made of fresh grains at the Samaleswari temple, the royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Gangpur led by Samarendra Sekhar Deo, observed the auspicious festival after paying their obeisance to the presiding deity Samaleswari at the palace temple.
However, the agrarian tribal community of the sub-division observed the festival in a different way. Tribal women, decked in festive attires, made plates and bowls from leaves collected from nearby forests.
This was followed by making offerings of fresh harvests to their ancestors after which the communities indulged in feasting amid music and dance.
Panposh and Bonai sub-divisions too participated in the celebrations. At Rourkela, entrepreneur Prakash Panigrahi and his wife Padmini led others to offer obeisance at the Samalei temple in the Hanuman Vatika Complex as part of the celebrations.