Nuakhai, the harvest festival celebrated in Odisha

Nuakhai is the harvest festival of Western Odisha. ‘Nua’ means new, and ‘Khai’ means to eat. The occasion marks the consumption of the first harvested crops and falls on the Bhadraba Shuklapakhya Panchami tithi, which is the day following Ganesh Chaturthi. It is the most important festival in the region and is an official holiday in Odisha.

• Nuakhai Juhar, the agrarian festival of Western Odisha, was celebrated with religious fervour and tradition on September 11, 2021. It is celebrated 1 day after the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi.
• Nuakhai is a crop festival celebrated by people of Western Odisha and Southern Chhattisgarh, to welcome the new rice of the season.
• Nua means new and khai means food. So, the festival of nuakhai is a festival to celebrate newly harvested food by the farmers.