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The festival is observed on Panchami tithi (the fifth day) in the lunar fortnight of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August-September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

This year, the Nuakhai festival celebrations began with 'Nabanna' or new crop offering to Goddess Samaleswari in Sambalpur between 9 AM and 9.27 AM and 9.35 AM to 10 AM in Balangir district.

Nua means New and Khai means food so the newly harvested food is offered to the village Goddess by the people of Western Odisha.

After offering Nabanna to the Goddess, the food is distributed among people and they consume it together. After completing all the rituals, people prepare delicious food and celebrate this festival with great pomp and show.

On the day, each and every member of the family wear new dress and they greet each other, show affection and take blessings from the elderly members of the family. This ritual is popularly known as 'Nuakhai Juhar'.

People staying outside visit their houses during the festival. An ambience of religious fervour is marked everywhere in western Odisha during the festival.

Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Education Minister and Sambalpur MP, Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries extended greetings to the people of Western Odisha and wished Nuakhai – the unique festival of love, devotion and harmony to bring happiness, peace and prosperity to all.

Marking the occasion, CM Majhi will launch the CM Kisan Yojana from Sambalpur today.

The landless farmers who were not covered under PM Kisan Yojana will get the benefit of CM Kisan scheme. Around Rs 4,000 will be given to farmers as assistance in two phases. In the first phase, i.e., on Nuakhai, the farmers will get Rs 2000, and on Akshaya Tritiya, they will receive the remaining half, officials said.

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According to sources, the launching ceremony will take place at Gangadhar Meher University auditorium in Sambalpur this afternoon, in which farmers not covered in Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi will get an assistance of Rs 4,000 in two phases.

The landless farmers who were not covered under PM Kisan Yojana will get the benefit of CM Kisan scheme. Around Rs 4,000 will be given to farmers as assistance in two phases. In the first phase, i.e., on Nuakhai, the farmers will get Rs 2000, and on Akshaya Tritiya, they will receive the remaining half, officials said.

The CM is also slated to attend ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’ programmes, besides offering prayer at Maa Samaleswari temple here.

Union Education Minister and Sambalpur MP, Dharmendra Pradhan; Revenue And Disaster Management Minister, Suresh Pujari; Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Rabi Narayan Naik; Minister of Higher Education, Sports & Youth Services and Odia Language, Literature & Culture, Suryavanshi Suraj, and Sambalpur MLA Jaynarayan Mishra will grace the occasion.

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Twenty-eight people were injured when the three-storey building housing godowns and a motor workshop collapsed in the Transport Nagar area here on Saturday evening.

Police said the building was constructed around four years ago and some construction work was underway at the time of the incident. Most of the victims were working on the ground floor when the incident occurred at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday.

The operation is still underway.

A senior district administration official said they are now focusing on ensuring that no one else is trapped under the rubble.

The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) recovered the bodies of three people, who were identified as Raj Kishore (27), Rudra Yadav (24) and Jagrup Singh (35), during the rescue operation, Relief Commissioner G.S. Naveen said on Sunday.

The injured have been admitted to various hospitals, including Lok Bandhu Hospital, in the district.

According to the officials, the building had a motor workshop and warehouse on the ground floor, a medical godown on the first floor and a cutlery warehouse on the second floor.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed district officials to accelerate relief efforts and ensure that those injured in the incident are immediately taken to the hospital and given appropriate medical care.

"Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has taken cognisance of the building collapse incident in Transport Nagar, Lucknow,” the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO) wrote on X on Saturday.

"The Chief Minister has directed the district administration officials, SDRF, and NDRF teams to reach the site and expedite the relief work, ensuring that the injured are immediately taken to the hospital for proper treatment. He also wished for the speedy recovery of the injured,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Defence Minister and Lok Sabha MP from Lucknow, Rajnath Singh, has expressed his sorrow over the deaths.

Taking to X, Rajnath Singh on Saturday said, "The news of the collapse of a building in Lucknow is extremely painful. I have spoken to the District Magistrate of Lucknow over the phone and got information about the situation at the spot. The local administration is carrying out relief and rescue operations on the spot and is engaged in helping the victims in every possible way." (IANS)