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Besides the tradition of celebrating New Year’s Day on January 1, based on the Gregorian calendar, different days are celebrated as New Year’s Day in different parts of the globe.
Similarly, in India, New Year’s Day is known by different names in different parts of the country. For example, Odias celebrate their New Year’s Day on Pana Sankranti, also known as Maha Visuba Pana Sankranti which normally falls either on April 14 or 15.
The Bengalis celebrate their New Year’s Day on Poila Boisakh. It is the first day of the Bengali calendar. It falls normally on April 14. For the Punjabis, New Year’s Day is Baisakhi, which is normally observed either on April 14 or 15. Likewise, the Malayalam New Year is called Vishu which is celebrated on April 14.
Bohag Vihu and Gudi Padwa are the New Year’s Days celebrated in Assam and Maharashtra respectively. While Bohag Vihu is celebrated in the middle of April, Gudi Padwa is the first day of Chaitra month. And Jur Sital or Sheetal is the Maithali New Year, observed in Bihar (the Mithila region) and Nepal. It usually falls on April 15.
All these festivals have one thing in common; they are harvest festivals.
Celebrations in Odisha
In Odisha, the Odia New Year is celebrated with much pomp and gaiety. Odias celebrate this day as the birth anniversary of Lord Hanuman as well. Braving the scorching heat, people wearing new clothes throng temples to worship the lord and seek their blessings for the wellbeing of their family members and friends.
On this day, the new Odia calendar or Panjika is introduced. It is an almanac of Hindu festivals, timings of sunrise and sunset, auspicious and inauspicious dates and timings and other predictions of the year.
Pana Sankranti:
As the name ‘Pana Sankranti’ suggests, there is a tradition that a homemade beverage known as ‘Pana’ is distributed among the known and unknown ones. This traditional beverage is prepared from the pulp of wood apple, locally known as bel fruit, fruits, sweets, sugar or molasses, black pepper powder etc.
An important tradition still in practice is to hang an earthen pot over a basil plant. This is known as ‘hanging of Basundhara Theki’. A hole is made at the bottom of the pot and a blade of grass is inserted into it. After filling it with water mixed with ‘pana’, the pot is hung over a Basil (Tulsi) plant. Water in the pot keeps falling on the Basil drop by drop. Every day, the pot is filled with fresh water to make sure that the falling of water shouldn’t stop. This practice is observed at almost all the houses across the State.
While this represents the rainy season, another belief associated with this practice is to protect the Basil plant from the scorching sun.
Danda Jatra:
Another important tradition associated with the Pana Sankranti still exists. It is Danda Jatra. The Jatra is performed for 13, 18 or 21 days. On the auspicious Pana Sankranti day, the jatra ends. The devotees who observe brata are called ‘Bhoktas’ or ‘Danduas’.
Only males are allowed to have the brata. On the concluding day, the ‘Danduas’ complete their brata by performing several painful practices like walking on fire and sharp swords and piercing nails and putting poisonous snakes around their neck as garlands. Similarly, in North Odisha, it is observed as Chadak Parva.
The day has geographical importance as well. As the name Maha Visuba Sankranti suggests, its significance can be traced to the equator, the Visuba Rekha. On this day, the sun fully rests on the equator, marking the beginning of Summer season.
Every year, on two occasions, the sun rests on the equator. This happens once during Mesha Sankramana and once again during Tula Sankrama. On these two days, the length of day and night is equal.
