On the eve of Nuakhai on September 10th, Tisya and her father Priyadarshee dived into the sea at the ‘Dibba Rock’ and from a depth of 40 feet they sent out their ‘Nuakhai’ wish to the people.
During the Nuakhai festival, the presiding deity of western Odisha, Goddess Samaleswari is offered worship. As per rituals, a porridge prepared from new paddy crop, which is called ‘Nabanna’ will be offered to Goddess Samaleswari and blessing is sought for a bumper harvest.
As per the ‘lagna’ for the ritual fixed by the Pundit Mahasabha, the Nabanna was offered to the Samaleswari Goddess between 10.15 AM and 10.25 AM today. Family member and relatives celebrate the festival by worshipping the household deity.
Prasad is offered and distributed among the family members, who also get together for a feast. ‘Nuakhai Juhar’ is also an iconic gesture associated with the festival through which the younger members of the family seek the blessings of the elder.
As per the guidelines issued, Devotees will be allowed to have darshan at the Goddess at Samaleswari Temple from 12pm to 5.30 pm. However, the darshan will be allowed with strict adherence to the Covid guidelines. Keeping in view the large congregation of devotees, the temple administration has changed the timing for public darshan.
As per tradition, people will offer Nabanna, the newly harvested paddy, to Goddesses Samaleswari Devi and later to their presiding deities on Nuakhai.
Markets in several parts of Bolangir and Sonepur have already got decked up for the festival and people can be seen selling and buying traditional items like 'kula', 'bhuga', 'tupa', 'dana' and others. Besides, items made of clay like 'handi' and 'dipa' which are also used during the festival are now in demand.
"We offer Nabanna to Maa Samleshwari and then celebrate the day with different types of sweets and other items,' said a local resident from Bolangir.
"Nabanna is first offered to Maa Samleshwari then people take it to their home and distribute it among family members. On the auspicious day, people also pray for good harvest and prosperity," said a local priest.
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In Sonepur, several groups have now started special rehearsals for programmes. The groups can now being found practising dance on the rhythmic beats of traditional instruments of dhol, nisan and muhuri ahead of the harvest festival of Nuakhai.
"Nuakhai is our traditional festival and we want to celebrate it with our traditional dance. We are practising dance to perform on the occasion. Besides, we will be performing at other places in Odisha," said a dancer.
Moreover, the agrarian festival of the region has the charm of its own as all the members of the family, irrespective of where they are, congregate on the day and celebrate the festival together. Youngsters in the family also seek the blessings of the elders setting aside all the differences.
The celebrations began with the ‘Nabanna’ or new rice out of newly harvested paddy crop was offered to Maa Samaleswari Devi in Sambalpur as per the ‘lagna’ or auspicious moment. Later, people offered ‘Nabanna’ to their presiding deities.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people of the western Odisha on the occasion of Nuakhai. In his Twitter message, prime minister Narendra Modi said, “Nuakhai Juhar. Greetings to the people of Odisha on this special festival. May this festival bring more prosperity in the lives of farmers.”
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik also greeted the people of Odisha on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai.
Among others, Union minister Jual Oram, BJD’s Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda, PCC President Prasad Harichandan, State BJP President Basant Panda greeted the people of the State on the occasion of Nuakhai.
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.
#NuakhaiJuhar was trending on Twitter for much of Tuesday. It also dominated the discourse on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms, besides getting day-long coverage on television with anchors appropriately dressed for the occasion. Even non-Odias joined the fun sending out Nuakhai greetings to their friends and acquaintances. Going by the buzz in cyberspace, it appeared as if the agrarian festival has transcended the borders of Western Odisha and has assumed a truly pan-Odisha dimension.
But has it really done so? Or is it just optics with little relation to the ground realities?
Wishing each other Nuakhai Juhar is all very well. But imbibing the spirit of camaraderie that it entails is an altogether different ball game. Celebration of the festival outside western Odisha is almost entirely about wishing friends and acquaintances – much of it on social media – and rarely involves the elaborate set of rituals that mark the occasion in western Odisha homes. Just as ‘Raja’ has remained an essentially coastal Odisha phenomenon (Though tribals do celebrate it in a big way, it has precious little in common with the practices and rituals of ‘Raja’ as celebrated in coastal Odisha), Nuakhai has never really outgrown the boundaries of western Odisha despite decades of assimilation and integration since Odisha became a state back in 1936.
Soon, the season of ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’ (social dos organized to mark Nuakhai) will start in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and other important cities in coastal Odisha. All political parties and most important leaders of these parties would host Bhetghat programmes where the high and mighty would exchange pleasantries and gorge on the sumptuous dishes on offer. Socio-cultural organizations too will also hold programmes where Sambalpuri dance and song, among other things, will be mandatory fare with the all-time hit ‘Rangabati’ taking pride of place.
But a closer look would reveal that these are occasions for food and fun and devoid of the essence of the Nuakhai spirit. In the case of political parties, in particular, the Bhetghats are occasions for networking, mending fences, building bridges or striking deals – a bit like Iftaar parties that has become a part of our secular political culture.
Given the agrarian origins and largely secular moorings of Nuakhai, there is no reason why it should not be a pan-Odisha festival. If it has failed to cross the coastal barrier (and conversely, if Raja has failed to penetrate deep into western Odisha), the reasons are to be found in history. The political, social and cultural schism between the two regions goes deep and has not been bridged despite eight decades of socio-political assimilation and cultural exchanges.
In hindsight, it is hard to believe that undivided Sambalpur district, along with the undivided Cuttack, Puri and Balasore districts, was part of British India that merged with a clutch of princely states to form the modern day Odisha after Independence. It is ironic in a sense that while most of the 24 ‘gadjaats’ merged into Odisha without much of a problem, the rift between western and coastal regions continues to this day – as is evident in the periodic revival of the demand for a separate Koshal state.
People in the western region see themselves as victims of exploitation at the hands of ‘bhaaenas’ (a derisive term used in western Odisha for people from the coast). This feeling of victimhood has not grown out of thin air; it has its roots as much in historical facts as in the political equations in the present time, which tilt the scales heavily in favour of coastal Odisha. The fault lines remain in the cultural arena too, despite the Sambalpuri saree and Sambalpuri dance breaking regional barriers. A case in point; while much of western Odisha took great umbrage at the Coke Studio version of the chart-busting ‘Rangabati’ number sung by Sona Mohapatra a year or so ago, people in coastal parts kept wondering what the fuss was all about!
It is not as if the gulf between the two regions is unbridgeable. Having straddled both sides of the divide, this writer can vouch for the fact that there is much in common between the people – with Lord Jagannath taking pride of place - that holds out the promise of a true and lasting integration between them. But for that to happen, political integration has to precede the socio-cultural integration of the two parts.
Till then, it will remain a work in progress.
The ‘Nabanna’ or rice out of newly-harvested paddy crop was offered to Goddess Samaleswari, the presiding deity of Sambalpur between 10:05 AM and 10:20 AM today.
As per rituals, after performing ceremonial bath and other rituals of Maa Samaleswari, the Goddess was draped in a new ‘patta’ and decked with ornaments. Following this, Nabanna was offered to the Goddess.
On the other hand, Nabanna rituals at Maa Samalei temple in Sundergarh were conducted at 8:50 AM.
As per the traditions of the annual fest, the head of the family worships the presiding deity and offers new rice, peetha, kheer and other delicacies. The Prasad is then distributed among the family members, who then consume the new food grain together.
The festival also bears significance among the farming community as they perform puja on their farmland to thank ‘Mother Earth’ for being so bountiful.
To mark the occasion, the Odia diaspora celebrated Nuakhai in foreign cities like Dubai and London and countries including Japan and America today.
With the primary objective of popularizing Odia culture and traditions on the global stage, GOOD members, living in Dubai have undertaken a unique and novel initiative.
They approached global business leaders based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) convinced these leaders and enlisted their support in popularizing this agrarian festival across the globe.
In a specially recorded video message Mr. Mohammed Al Muallem, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, of DP World, UAE Region sent out his greetings from the United Arab Emirates and congratulated the people on this festival.
Apart from Padmashri Dr B.R. Shetty the founder and chairman of NMC Healthcare and Finablr, Consul General of India Mr. Vipul expressed their wishes on this special occasion.
GOOD member, Priyadarshee Panigrahi, who is the general manager of a leading consumer products company based in Dubai said, “This initiative will definitely lead to the spread of Nuakhai’s culture across the globe and is a source of immense pride for all of us.”