<span style="color: #222222;">People of Odisha today are celebrating Nuakhai- a  major and mass agrarian festival of the state.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Coming a day after Ganesh Chaturthi, this ancient festival is observed on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Bhadrava.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The festival, mainly celebrated across western Odisha, marks the welcoming of the new rice of the season. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Vice President M. Venkiah Naidu,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi, former Union Minister and Member of Parliament Juel Oram and many other dignitaries have greeted the people of the state on the occasion.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">In his message,  Vice President Mr. Naidu has said that the festival "reflects man's close relationship with nature". </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his message has described Nuakhai as "about celebrating the hard work of our farmers". "</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">It is due to their efforts that our nation is fed"- tweeted the Prime Minister.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">AIR correspondent reports, Nuakhai is celebrated at a point of the Kharif season when the rice is not yet ready for harvesting.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The traditional wisdom behind the practice is to offer the new rice of the season to the presiding deities of the farming communities, even before any bird or animal can start pecking at the new grains.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Besides the religious ritual, the festival is frontloaded with social activities that include "Nuakhai Bhetghat" underscoring community connect and "Nuakhai Juhar" underlining mutual love and respect. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Despite being under the constraining clouds of Covid-19, the festival has faltered neither on the substance nor on the spirit, with the people taking to measured socialisation within the metrics of social distancing. </span><br />