The auspicious timing (lagna dharya) for western Odisha’s grand agrarian festival Nuakhai has been officially fixed for September 15, Tuesday.
According to tradition, the sacred ritual of offering the new harvest (nabanna) to presiding deity Maa Samaleswari will take place between 9:40 am and 9:54 am. Following the temple rituals, households across western Odisha will celebrate Nuakhai by preparing and sharing the first grains of the season.
The announcement was made at Brahmapura temple in Jharuapada, Sambalpur, where pandits gathered under the temple trust board’s auspices. The ritual included recitation of Vishnu Sahasranama before fixing the lagna based on astrological calculations of Maa Samaleswari’s jatak, rashi, and nakshatra.
After the lagna was determined, a delegation of priests and trust board members carried the official lagna letter to Maa Samaleswari temple.
Similar auspicious timings have also been fixed for Sonpur district, where nabanna will be offered between 9:50 am and 10:14 am at the Mukti Mandap of Bada Jagannath temple.
Nuakhai, observed annually on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrab, symbolizes agrarian prosperity and cultural unity across western Odisha.
