Sambalpur: Amid Covid restrictions and fears of drought, there is an air of festivity and gaiety across western Odisha. The stage is all set for the famous agrarian festival Nuakhai, which will be celebrated with traditional fervour and gaiety tomorrow.
Chief priest of Samaleswari Ambika Prasad Ray offered sindoor and castor oil to Goddess Samaleswari and side deities Friday amid chanting of mantras.
On the auspicious day, the presiding deities Maa Samaleswari in Sambalpur, Manikeswari in Kalahandi, Pataneswari in Bolangir, Sureshwari in Sonepur and Sekharbasini in Sundargarh are offered the ‘Navanna’ (rice cooked out of new grains of newly harvested paddy crop) as per ‘lagna’ (propitious moment) fixed by priests.
This year, the ‘Navanna’ will be offered to Goddess Samaleswari and 104 other deities at 8 am Saturday morning. However, bhet ghat programmes have been banned by the administration this year due to the pandemic.
Thousands of migrants have returned to the district to celebrate the festival. On the eve of the festival, market places in Sambalpur town were thronged by people for purchase of puja materials.
Gole Bazar, Mudipada Purina Bus Stand area, Kamali Bazar, Farm Road, VSS Marg, Charbhati Chhak, Budharaja, Municipality Daily Market, Ainthapalli Kainsir, Bhalupalli Chhak, Dhanupalli Chhak, Gobindatola Badabazar, Mudipad Hatley, Laxmi Talkies Chhak, Kacheri Chhak and Raymed got crowded.
Notably, the same ritual is conducted before the ‘Gram Devi’ (village deities) in every other village. ‘Navanna’ is offered to the Goddess to seek her blessings for a bumper crop in the next harvest season. Nuakhai is primarily an agrarian festival imbued with the rituals of the fertility cult.
It is an occasion for people across western Odisha to express their gratitude to the Mother Earth for sustaining them and to invoke her blessings for better productivity in the coming agricultural season.
After propitiation of the Goddess, people pay their respects to the elders in the family and locality through ‘Nuakhai Juhar.’ Similarly, ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’ greetings are also exchanged among themselves.
Various delicacies and cakes prepared from the new rice are also exchanged with relatives and friends on this occasion. Several community programmes and cultural shows are also organised to mark the day.
PNN