Sambalpur: The ‘lagna’ or auspicious hour for Nuakhai, the agrarian festival celebrated across western Odisha, was finalised Saturday according to traditional customs and rituals. A group of priests and astrologers calculated the timing based on the zodiac sign and constellation of presiding deity Maa Samaleswari.
Nuakhai will be observed September 15, Tuesday on the fifth lunar fortnight of Bhadraba month with the first offering of newly harvested rice, or Nabanna, to Maa Samaleswari between 9:40 am and 9:54 am during Tula Lagna and Vrishabha Navamsa.
People will consume the Nuakhai offering only after it is first offered to the presiding deity, in keeping with tradition. The auspicious time was finalised at Brahmapura Temple in Jhaduapada during a programme organised by the temple trust board.
Priests and astrologers from different parts of Sambalpur district participated in the process. Temple priest Santosh Panda first conducted special prayers, followed by the reading of the finalised timing by trust board president Saroj Kumar Dalpat.
Trust board members, priests and other officials later took out a procession through the city and reached Samaleswari Temple at dusk. They were welcomed at the temple entrance before a special prayer and the formal presentation of the auspicious time.
Chief priest Ambika Prasad Ray, trust board president Sanjay Kumar Babu and other priests formally accepted the timing amid chants of “Jai Maa Samalei.”