Best wishes to All for Nuakhai Nuakhai or Nuankhai (Oriya: ନୂଆଖାଇ or Oriya: ନୂଆଁଖାଇ) (also known as Nabanna) is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha in India. Nuakhai is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. According to the Hindu calendar it is observed on panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. This is the most important social festival of Western Odisha. Nuakhai is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat. The word nua means new and khai means food, so the name means the farmers are in possession of the newly harvested rice. The festival is seen as a new ray of hope, held the day after the Ganesha Chaturthi festival. It has a big significance for farmers and the agricultural community. The festival celebrated at a particular time of day which is called lagan. Arisa pitha is prepared to celebrate this festival. When the lagan comes, the people first remember their village god or goddess and then have their nua. Nuakhai is the agricultural festival of both the tribal people as well as the caste-Hindus. The festival is observed throughout Odisha, but it is particularly important in the life and culture of the tribal dominated area of Western Odisha. It is a festival for the worship of food grain. It has its best celebration in the Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sonepur, Boudh and Nuapada districts of Odisha . There was no common day for this culturally contiguous vast area in Western Orissa. But for over a decade now, to bring about uniformity, by common consensus of the people, a predetermined day has been identified for NUAKHAI and that is the day after Sri Ganesh Chaturthi, the fifth lunar day during the bright fortnight of Bhadrav. This unanimity of a common day has helped people away from home to visit their native places. A single day has been declared as holiday by the State Government of Orissa in the entire state of facilitate grand celebrations. Although the origin of the festival has been lost over time, oral tradition dates its back to the 12th century AD, the time of the first Chauhan Raja Ramai Deo, founder of the princely state of Patna which is currently part of Balangir district in Western Odisha. In his efforts to build an independent kingdom, Raja Ramai Deo realized the significance of settled agriculture because the subsistence economy of the people in the area was primarily based on hunting and food gathering. He realised this form of economy could not generate the surpluses required to maintain and sustain a state. During state formation in the Sambalpuri region, Nuakhai as a ritual festival played a major role in promoting agriculture as a way of life. Thus credit can be given to Raja Ramai Deo for making Nuakhai a symbol of Sambalpuri culture and heritage. In early years, there was no fixed day for celebration of the festival. It was held sometime during Bhadraba Sukla Pakhya (the bright fortnight of Bhadraba). It was the time when the newly grown Kharif crop (autumn crop) of rice started ripening. There are reasons for observing the festival in the month of Bhadrava even though the food grain is not ready for harvesting. The thought is to present the grain to the presiding deity before any bird or animal pecks at it and before it is ready for eating. In early traditions, farmers would celebrate Nuakhai on a day designated by the village headman and priest. Afterward, under the patronage of royal families, this simple festival was altered into a mass socio-religious event celebrated in the entire Kosal region. According to (Singh,1982:75) Evidence can be found of the Nuakhai festival been observed by nearly all the major tribes in central and eastern India, with a minor difference in nomenclature. Jeth Nawakhai is celebrated among the Dudh Kharia and Pahari Kharia, Nawakhani amongst the Oraon and Birjia, Jom Nawa among the Munda and Birjia, Janther or Baihar-Horo Nawai by the Santal, Gondli Nawakhani by the tribal people of Ranchi district, Nawa by the Birjia, Nawa-Jom by the Birhor, Dhan Nawakhani by Korwa, and so on. Russel and Hiralal have mentioned the Nawakhani festival of the Paraja, a small tribe found in the Bastar region and Odisha . Gautam (1977) observed a new corn offering and rice eating festival of the Santals in Santal Pargana which they term Jom Nawa. Das Gupta (1978) has noted the Nawa ceremony of the Birjia, a section of the Asura tribe of Chhotanagpur. Bhaduri (1944:149-50) presents a short note on the celebration of a festival of the Tripura known as Mikatal where Mi stands for rice and Katal means new. It is celebrated in the month of Aswina (September–October). In West Bengal and in the coastal districts of Odisha, the festival is called Nabanna by the caste-Hindus. Regardless of the name, the main objective of this festival is to get social sanction for the new crop, and to invoke the deities to bless the land with abundant crops. Nuakhai is a cohesive and unified force between people of the Western Odisha living in Delhi, as they unite and celebrate together the occasion of Nuakhai . Immigrants from the Western Odisha now living in Bangalore, Goa, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, and Vishakapatnam have been celebrating Nuakhai in their new cities for the past few decades. The modern Nuakhai festival, now being observed on the fifth day of the second fortnight of Bhadrava, was unquestionably given a new look of homogeneity and uniformity by various social organizations of Western Odisha, including the Odisha Government in 1991. It has lost some of its enormity and variety with the passage of time, but Nuakhai is still an occasion which endorses the patrimonial nature of the Sambalpuri culture and society.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 07:06:32 +0000
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