‘Nuakhai Juhar’, is one of the most ancient festivals celebrated in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and areas of neighbouring states to welcome the new crop of the season.
Nuakhai Juhar is the agricultural festival is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat.
Nuakhai is a combination of two words signifies eating of new rice as ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means eat.
On this day, people worship food grain and prepare special meals. Farmers offer the first produce from their lands to Goddess Samaleswari, the famous ‘Mother Goddess’ of Sambalpur district of Odisha.
Moreover, locals also organise several cultural programmes – folk songs and dances in their respective districts on this day to display the state’s local culture and tradition.