Nuakhai Festival

About Nuakhai Festival:

• It is a festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand.
• The word nua means new and khai means food.
• Objective: It is an agricultural festival which is observed to welcome the new rice of the season.
• It is observed on the fifth day of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September).
• Rituals of Nuakhai:
  • Nuakhai is understood to have nine colours and as a consequence nine sets of rituals are followed as a prelude to the actual day of celebration.
  • People offer the newly harvested crop called Nabanha to their respective presiding deities.
  • After offering the Nabanha, people relish different types of delicacies prepared from the newly harvested crop.
  • The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival.