Nuakhai Juhar Festival is an agricultural festival chiefly celebrated in Western Odisha.
Celebrated primarily by tribal people, this festival falls on the day right after Ganesh Chaturthi.
Nuakhai Juhar is a celebration of the harvest, which is being celebrated on September 20 this year.
The word ‘Nuakhai’ is translated into ‘Nua’ (i.e., new) and ‘Khai’ (i.e., eating).
Nuakhai Juhar is the most prominent harvest festival celebrated in Odisha. It is a festival of worship of food grain. As per the ritual, Nabanna or the newly harvested rice has been offered to the presiding deity of the presiding deity of western Odisha, the Goddess Samaleswari..
Though celebrated throughout Odisha, the districts of Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sonepur, Boudh, and Nuapada are the places where people celebrate Nuakhai on grand scale.
