The ‘lagna’ (propitious moment) for offering Navanna (new rice) to Maa Samaleswari, the presiding deity of Sambalpur in western Odisha, has been fixed for August 26 between 09.05 am and 09.15 am.
like every year, the lagna for the mass festival was decided on the day following Janmashtami by the Brahmamandap Pandit Mahasabha here.
The offering ushers in the annual celebrations of the Nuankhai, the mass festival of western Odisha meant to welcome the new paddy crop. This year, the festival is being celebrated on the fifth day of Bhadraba in the Odia calendar.
The Nuankhai is to western Odisha what the Onam is to Kerala, the Bihu is to Assam and the Baishakhi to Punjab. It is celebrated with great fervour in the western Odisha districts of Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Bargarh, Subarnapur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda and Boudh.
In keeping with the agrarian nature of the festival, the farmers here offer new grain to the deity and welcome the new crop. Early in the morning, the family head collects paddy from the field after offering milk and flowers to the crop and the mother earth. After offering ‘Navanna’ (new grain) to the deity, the family head distributes the new rice processed out of his first harvest, cooked with milk, sugar and other traditional food items, to members of the family.
A significant feature of the festival is that younger members get blessings from their elders in the house and also in the locality. People also greet each other with great warmth, a ritual called ‘Nuankhai Bhet’ in local parlance.
People working away from their native places generally come home to celebrate the Nuankhai with family members. A large number of devotees attired in new Sambalpuri clothes throng the Maa Samaleswari temple on the festival day and Gramdevi pithas of the region to make offerings. Several community programmes are organised to mark the festival in which all sections of people take part with great enthusiasm.