The entire western region of Odisha is in festive mood for the annual Nuankhai, an agrarian festival.
Though the festival is observed every year, this time the pomp and gaiety is visible as the region has been active politically. Needless to say, the western region is home to the who’s who of the State politics.
This is for the first time that the region has emerged as the hub of prime opposition leaders for over four crore Odisha people. While the State president of opposition BJP Basanta Panda hails from Nuapada district in the western region, the saffron party’s legislature party leader KV Singh Deo too comes from Bolangir, another prominent western Odisha district. leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra of the Congress also belongs to Balangir district.
However, the Government in position is headed by Naveen Patnaik who hails from Ganjam district in the coastal region.
As the Opposition is considered very important in a democratic setup, the significance of western region has certainly increased in the State politics. And, so it is obvious that the festival of the area has risen in importance.
During the agrarian annual festival of Nuankhai, people in the region worship their presiding deities and seek blessings for good rain, bumper crop and a favourable weather for farming. The festival marks the eating of newly harvested rice.
On Tuesday, people offer ‘Nabanna’ (new rice) out of newly-harvested paddy crop to the deity amidst beating drums, cymbals and sounds of conch shells. Goddess Samaleswari in Sambalpur, Patneswari in Bolangir, Sureshwari in Sonepur, Sekharbasini in Sundargarh and Manikeswari in Kalahandi are worshipped as presiding deities. The bhog is offered to the main deity and then to other deities in and around the temple.
After eating ‘Navanna’ bhog (offerings), people seek blessings of the deities and then do so from elders in the family and locality which is called ‘Nuakhai Juhar’ in local parlance, a significant part of the festival. People also exchange greetings which is called ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’.
Various delicacies are prepared from the new rice and exchanged with relatives and friends. There are reasons for celebrating the festival in the Odia month of ‘Bhadraba’ even though the paddy crop is not ready for harvesting. The sole idea is to offer the grain of short-duration paddy to presiding deity even before any bird or animal pecks at it.