Bhawanipatna: Nuakhai, the main agrarian festival in western Orissa, will be celebrated in Kalahandi district August 31 unlike in other western districts where the festival will be held August 26, a report said Thursday.
Residents in Kalahandi will celebrate it August 31 on the 10th day of lunar fortnight (Shukla Pakshya) in the month of Bhadrab while the festival will be held five days in advance in other western districts August 26, on the fifth day of the lunar fortnight.
It was made public after priests of Manikeshwari temple here fixed the auspicious time and date at a meeting on the temple premises Thursday evening, priest Bisikesan Tripathy said.
The porridge known as Nabanna will be offered to the deity at 8.15 am August 31 in a secret ritual and the temple doors will be thrown open to the devotees at 9 am when the offerings will be distributed among devotees, priest Tripati Mishra said.
People have been advised to take ‘Nabanna’ at their home between 9.15 am and 11.45 am, Tripathy said.
The festival will begin with the offering of porridge at the temple of Goddess Manikeshwari, the presiding deity of the district. After the offering, the celebration will take off in Bhawanipatna town as well as in the regions of former princely states of Kalahandi like T Rampur, Karlapata, Mahulpatna, Jaypatna, M Rampur and Lanjigarh. PNN