Sundargarh: Odia people settled in the US, celebrated Nuakhai, the harvesting festival of Western Odisha with its grandeur and excitement at Kirkland Everest Park in America’s seaport town Seattle in USA.
Over 60 families congregated in the Park to observe the festival on foreign soil. Young and elder alike, were in their best Sambalpuri attires, with women clad in traditional sarees and gents in pyjama and kurta.
The function started with a Bandana (prayer song) followed by offering of ‘Nua Dhana’ (new harvested crops) to the sitting deity of Sambalpur Maa Samaleswari. Later, the expats exchanged ‘Nuakhai Bhet’ among themselves and made their bonds stronger.
Apart from the normal prayers and get together, a cultural programme was also arranged to enjoy the colourful event. People danced their heart out to the beats of Sambalpuri and traditional Odia songs.
Similarly, many performers enthralled the people for a good few hours. One of the members, Biplab Meher, made everyone get on the dance floor with his moves to some famous Sambalpuri songs. Sanvi Das, Ahana Behera, Sanvi Patra and Evan Mohapatra also entertained the people with their performances.
The people gathered in the function were treated to typical traditional mouth watering Odia cuisines prepared by Odia families of Alok Mohapatra, Bikash Behera, Laxmi Korada, Sujit Patra, Santosh Das, Sudhanshu Behera, Biswaranjan Behera, Sumitra Patel, Saroj Patel, Tanmay Patel, Boby Patel, Anjan Das, Biplad Meher, Prabir Panda and Bishwajit Thakur.
While the aroma of Western Odisha dishes and Sambalpuri music filled the atmosphere, the Kirkland Everest Park looked like a miniature of Western Odisha.
Marking the occasion, Padma Shri Manoj Das, former Hockey captain, Dillip Tirkey, MP and former minister Prasanna Acharya and MLA and former minister Mangala Kisan wished them via Email.
“The occasion helps people, living 12, 000km away from their native place to celebrate the richness of Odisha’s cultural and festive heritage on a foreign soil. It also promotes peace and harmony,” a Odia family said.
“While everyone is busy at work and people hardly get chance to socialise, the Nuakhai bhetghat brings our people and culture together,” said another.
These families, living at Seattle 12 years on, have been celebrating the festival for last 6 years.
PNN
