NUAKHAI- A FESTIVAL OF CULTURAL INTEGRITY

India is a country of diverse cultures & traditions. Every part of the subcontinent possesses its own distinctive culture & lifestyle which makes the country special. When we talk about a nation, it’s not only the geographical territory; rather it also includes the culture & traditions of the country. Like other parts of our nation, the Western Odisha which is popularly known as Kosala or Kosalanchal has its own identity due to its own traditions. NUAKHAI is the most prominent amongst them. NUAKHAI is a agriculture based festival largely celebrated in the 10 districts of the western part of modern day Odisha. This festival is mainly celebrated to welcome & introduce the newly cultivated rice every year. According to the Hindu calendar this festival falls on Bhadrapada (Bhudo in Sambalpuri language) Shukla Panchami, exactly on the next day of Ganesh Chaturthi. Besides the Western part of Odisha, this festival is also celebrated in some of the adjoining areas Simdega of Jharkhand & some parts of Chhatisgarh which were parts of the different erstwhile princely states of this area in the past. This festival is also known as NABANNA in the recent days.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FESTIVAL:-

In the word Nuakhai, Nua means New & Khai means Food. The most important occupation of the people of this part of the nation is agriculture. Most of the people of this region are farmers and this day signifies their importance in our life. The farmers work very hard day & night to grow crops for our sustenance. After the harvesting is over, the common folk greet this harvesting & welcome the new crops by celebrating the festival.

HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL:-

The fundamental idea of celebrating such a festival can be traced back to the Vedic era. But the origin of celebration of Nuakhai can be found in the 12th Century AD during the first Chouhan king of Patna princely state Raja Ramai Deo who also happens to be the founder of the state. He actually realized the significance of agriculture in this area. Also Nuakhai as a ritual festival played a significant role in promoting agriculture as a way of life during the formation of the princely state. During that era the date was not fixed. The people belonging to different regions used to celebrate the fest according to their convenience. But everybody used to celebrate it during the Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada month after the cultivation is over. 

As per the tradition, earlier farmers used to celebrate it on a fixed day finalized by the village heads & priests of the respective villages. Gradually this altered into a mass socio-cultural-economic & religious festival in the entire area. However there were attempts by different social workers to fix up a common date for the festival to be celebrated in the entire area, but that didn’t work. Again an attempt was made in 1991 for the above purpose & finally the BHADRAPADA SHUKLA PANCHAMI (locally BHUDO SHUKLA PANCHMI) tithi was fixed to observe the fest. Later on the state government has also decided to declare that day as a holiday so that the people can observe the festival happily.

NINE RITUALS:-

Although people consider the single day to be Nuakhai, actually this is a long 15 day festival with different rituals. Nuakhai is considered to have Nine Colours and hence a set of nine rituals is carried out by the people. These nine colours include:

1. Beheren (announcement of the meeting of the villagers to declare the date)

2. Lagna Dekha (setting the exact date for partaking of new rice)

3. Daka Haka (inviting the family members to gather at home on the day of festival)

4. Sapha Sutra & Lipa Pucha (cleaning of the entire house including all the clothes & all the other household things to give a new look to the entire house)

5. Ghina Bika (purchasing the required things to celebrate including the food & clothes)

6. Nua Dhan Khuja (searching for the new crop)

7. Bali Paka (final resolve of Nuakhai by offering the Prasad to the deity)

8. Nuakhai (eating of new crop as Prasad after being offered to the deity)

9. Juhar Bhet (greeting everybody for the festival)

CELEBRATION:-

As we know the preparation of the festival begins almost before two weeks, the people seem to be very much excited to celebrate this. This festival signifies the love, affection & unity among the family members as well as our cultural integrity. No matter where the people are living or studying or doing any job; they come back to their respective houses to celebrate the festival with their family members. On the previous day of the festival or on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, the JHANKAR or the Village Priest goes to every households of the village with a bunch of new crop as the blessing of the village deity. The people, being quite excited also purchase new dresses to wear on the very occasion. Before the day comes, the family members make dishes like Khali, Dana etc to eat the new crop & other prasads which are made up of Kure, Mahul & Rengal leaves.

On the very day the Prasad is first offered to be deities of the temples. The first Prasad is offered to Goddess Samaleswari in the Samaleswari temple of Sambalpur. The people can start eating the new crops only after that. Prasad is also offered to Goddess Pataneswari in Patnagarh. In the house the  head of the family offers the prayers to the deity of the house & other deities. Then all the family members sit together to eat the new rice. Many delicious dishes are also prepared on the day to celebrate the festival happily. The family members also offer the new crops to their ancestors before taking it. After their meal is over, they again take the blessings of the deities of the house & celebrate the final ritual JUHAR BHET. Juhar in Sambalpuri means Namaste & Bhet means Meeting. Hence the people meet all the people in their neighborhood, the villagers, friends & relatives to greet them after conducting the ritual in the house.

Now a days the modern people have found some new ideas to make the festival even more exciting and full of pump & show. They are organizing cultural events so that people can meet at a place, greet each other & enjoy the festival with own cultural identity. Also the modern day youth are celebrating the following day as Basi Nuakhai where the friends or relatives meet at a place to celebrate this with several dishes. Friends go on picnics to make it even more memorable. Many people opine that Nuakhai is meant for cultural celebration & Basi Nuakhai is for enjoyment with the near & dear ones, because many people who are residing outside come back to their houses for the festival and this gives them an opportunity to spend some time among them.

Finally it can be submitted that Nuakhai is a festival of utmost importance for the people of modern day Western Odisha or erstwhile some parts of Dakshin Kosala which includes the princely states of Patna, Sambalpur, Bamra & some other small states. Although it is a very old festival, the forms & rituals has not changed yet. People knows the importance of Nuakhai today also and come back to their houses even if they are staying in the foreign countries. This signifies their identity and hence makes the people cultured & united.

Ritesh Ranjan Meher

Sambalpur University