Odia New Year is also known as Pana Sankranti and it is observed as the first day of the Odia Calendar. The Odia communities and the people of Odisha celebrate the new year during Pana Sankranti, also referred to as Mahavbisuba Sankranti. By making special rituals and prayers to gods and goddesses, the day heralds the start of a new year.
In the state of Odisha, people celebrate Pana Sankranti as the Hindu Solar New Year. It also goes by the names Mahabishuba Sankranti and Maha Vishuba Sankranti. It ushers in spring and coincides with a number of other harvest festivals, including Baisakhi, Puthandu, and Pohela Boishakh. Let’s discover the date, significance, traditions, customs, and history of the lovely Odia New Year celebration before Pana Sankranti 2023.
Pana Sankranti 2023 Date In Odisha
In 2023, Pana Sankranthi is celebrated on the 14th of April. The first day of the conventional solar calendar is used to determine the festival’s date. Additionally, because the Odia calendar is based on the lunisolar Hindu calendar, this festival will also coincide with Baisakh.
Pana Sankranti’s Importance
Even though this festival occurs around the same time as other harvest celebrations, it has a distinctive way of celebrating. The day is considered lucky because it marks the birth of Lord Hanuman, according to ancient Odia Hindu traditions.
The purpose of this festival is to mark the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. People pray for health and wealth as they welcome in the New Year with hopes and aspirations for a bright future. Farmers also pray for a good harvest and plentiful rains at the same time.
Pana Sankranti Celebrations In Odisha
The festival, which is a crucial component of Odia traditions, is joyfully and vibrantly observed. To beat the summer heat, people prepare a special Bel beverage that they sip.
Another distinctive custom occurs on that day. It is customary to hang an earthen pot with a hole at the bottom over the top of a Tulsi tree or plant to represent the rainy season by letting drops of the special sweet drink Pana drip over it. A traditional concoction of gram flour, banana, and curd is also prepared and served to the family before being offered to the tulsi plant.
By requesting blessings from Gods and Goddesses, Odia communities across the country celebrate this day. While some locations host melas, the Dada Naach traditional folk dance is also performed.
The festival is observed by visiting the temples of Shiva, Shakti, or Hanuman. [8] In rivers or significant sites of pilgrimage, people bathe. Communities take part in melas (fairs), traditional dance performances, and acrobatic displays. Sharing feasts and special beverages, like the chilled pana, a mango-milk-yogurt-coconut beverage, is a tradition that contributes to the festival’s name.
The Hindu god Hanuman, whose legendary love for Rama (the seventh incarnation of Vishnu) in the Ramayana, is attributed to the Pana Sankranti in the Odia Hindu tradition. On the new year, his temples are revered alongside those of Shiva and Surya.
On Pana Sankranti, Hindus also go to Devi (goddess) temples. The temples include the Taratarini Temple, Samaleswari Temple, Cuttack Chandi, Biraja Temple, and Sarala Temple in Ganjam, Odisha, close to Brahmapur. At the Sarala Temple, during the Jhaamu Yatra fire-walking festival, priests traverse hot coals. The Patua Yatra festival is held from April 14 to April 21 at the Maa Patana Mangala Temple in Chhatrapada, Bhadrak. The festival is known as Chadak Parva in Northern Odisha. The month-long danda nata dance festival concludes in Southern Odisha with the Meru Yatra festival. It is one of the fortunate days during the Chaitra Yatra, so thousands of devotees assemble at the Shakti Pitha shrine in the Taratarini Temple.
The new Odia calendar, or Panjika, which is an almanac of Hindu festivals and contains the dates of festivals, auspicious days and timings, timings of sunrise and sunset, as well as horoscopes for the year, is also introduced on this day, which has significance. Here is the List of different types of Pana made in Pana Sankranti.
Bela Pana :
On the Odia new year, people share Bela Pana, a special festive sweet beverage made from milk, ripe bel fruit, and spices. To celebrate, people from all over the state partake in festive Chhatua and Bela Pana. Bael, milk, chhena, fruits, yogurt, cashews, spices, sugar, or jaggery are used to make the Bela Pana.
Theki Basundhara :
Basundhara theki is a significant ritual performed during Pana Sankranti. The holy basil plant is placed in a water-filled earthen pot with a small hole at the end so that water drips continuously on the plant.
Male traditional folk artists known as “Ghantapatuas” from Odisha perform “Jhama nata” during Pana Sankranti. They typically perform in groups of two or four, dressed in attire that looks like that of women. A collective street performance on Pana Sankranti in Sonepur, Odisha, close to the Lankeswari Temple.
Danda Nata :
One of the oldest performance art genres in the area is danda nata, which is performed during this festival celebration. Beginning in the middle of Chaitra, the opening ritual (March – April). The artists, also known as Dandua, perform the art while walking or running over hot charcoals and taking a dip in the village pond. They also perform jala danda by briefly submerging themselves in deep water after performing danda nata. These performances stand for the release from physical suffering. The fire walk, where volunteers sprint over a bed of burning coal while being applauded with music and songs, is a notable culmination of the social celebrations.
Read More: Makar Sankranti In Odisha
Pana Sankranti 2023 Overview
| Post Title | Pana Sankranti 2023 |
| Category | Odia Festival |
| Location | Odisha |
| Date | 14 April 2023 |
| Homepage | Visit Here |