Nuakhai Blog Nuakhai is a harvest festival in odisha which is celebrated in western Odisha and one of the famous festval . It is celebrated to welcome new season and the season's new rice and celebrated a day after "Ganesh Chaturthi". The festival is celebrated with Nabanna offering to Goddess Samaleswari during a particular time. Nuakhai is made of two words, Nua which means new, and Khai which means food. The people in the western part of Odisha celebrate Nuakhai with zeal and excitement. On this festival, Odia people, even those living in far off lands return to their native places to be the part of the celebration. History of Nuakhai Festival As per the local legends, the Nuakhai festival was first started in the Vedic period when the sages deliberated on Panchyajna. One part of panchyajna was the Pralambana yajna in which the harvesting of new crops and offering them to mother goddess was celebrated. Thank you Dipti