Nuakhai Juhar: Odishas famous sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik's creation.
Nuakhai Juhar is one of the most ancient festivals celebrated in Odisha to welcome the new crop of the season. The agricultural festival is mainly observed by the people of western Odisha. On the auspicious occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted wishes for the "hardworking" farmers of the eastern state.
"Nuakhai Juhar! One of the most ancient festivals of Odisha, may this auspicious occasion further the spirit of prosperity, especially among our hardworking farmers. Praying for everyone's good health and well-being," the Prime Minister tweeted.
Nuakhai Juhar is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat and is a greeting exchanged on the special day. Nuakhai is a combination of two words, 'nua' meaning new and 'khai' means eat, it thus signifies "eating of new rice". People worship food grain on this auspicious day. Special meals are prepared and everyone eats it together. The farmers offer the first produce from their lands to Goddess Samaleswari, the famous mother goddess of Sambalpur district of the state.
Nuakhai is celebrated across districts like Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Nuapada, Jharsuguda, Sonepur and Boudh and also across several areas of Jharkhand. Several cultural programmes - folk songs and dances are organised on this day to display the state's local culture and tradition.