Odisha’s ‘Nua Khai’ Festival celebrated in Western Odisha

‘Nua Khai’ , an agrarian festival, was celebrated on ist September, 2022, at Western Odisha. It is celebrated precisely the day after Ganesh Chaturthi and signifies the celebration of newly harvested crops.

About Nua Khai:

• This festival is the most auspicious and important social festival in Western Odisha and the neighbouring areas of Simdega, Jharkhand and Southern Chhattisgarh.
• The Nua Khai celebration was attended by many guests including the Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan (chief guest) who graced the function on the occasion.
• The founder of Patna State, Raja Ramai Deo started the ‘Nua Khai’ festival in the 14th Century.
• Nua Khai, an annual harvest festival celebrated to welcome the season’s new crop. It is also referred as ‘Nuakahi Bhetghat’ or ‘Nuakhai Parab’, which is celebrated on the 5th day of the lunar fortnight of Bhadraba (falls in August-September on the lunar Calendar).
• The word ‘Nua’ means ‘New’ and ‘Khai’ means ‘food’, the name itself depicts the celebration of a crop festival. The first harvested crop will be offered to the founder Goddess of Western Odisha, Maa Samaleswari.
• The symbolisation of this festival is to thank the divine for blessing them with ‘Anna’ or food.