Bhawanipatna: The gadajata area in Kalahandi district is celebrating Nuakhai – the agrarian festival– with religious fervor and devotion on Sunday.
According to source, the celebrations began after the ‘Nabanna’ or new rice out of newly harvested paddy crop was offered to Goddess Manikeswari at 8.45 am.
After offering the ‘Nabanna’ to the deity, locals of Bhawanipatna, Lanjigarh, Jaypatna, Madanpur, Rampur and Thuamula area consumed the newly harvested paddy crop, sources added.
Also read: When will Nuakhai become a truly pan-Odisha festival?
Notably, ‘Nuakhai’ is celebrated by offering new paddy crop to the presiding deity to seek blessings for a bumper harvest. People offer this ‘Nabanna’ to the deity amidst ‘Hulahuli’, beating drums, cymbals and sounds of conch shells.