Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai Juhar. It an important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand.
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Key-Points
It is an agricultural festival which is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. The word nua means new and khai means food.
It is observed on the fifth day of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
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. It is an exchange of greetings with friend relative and well-wishers.