- The people of western Odisha districts in the first week of September 2019 celebrated Nuakhai Juhar festival with much pomp and gaiety.
- The Nuakahi Johar is a major agrarian festival of this region and is being celebrated in every nook and corner collectively with much fanfare and religious fervour.
- On this festival, people offer the newly harvested crop called Nabanha to their respective presiding deities.
- Goddess Samaleswari is being worshipped in Sambalpur, Pateneswari in Bolangiri, Sureshwari in Sonepur, Sekharbasini in Sundargarh and Manikeswari in Kalahandi are offered the new crop.
About Nuakhai Juhar
- The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival
- The elders are wished Nuakhai Juhar and they give blessings for long life, happiness and prosperity.
- Being an agrarian festival, the eldest in each household in rural pockets worshipped their paddy fields praying for a bumper crop and favourable weather.
