Nuakhai Juhar

Nuakhai or Nuankhai is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha in India.

Nuakhai is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. Farmers offer the first produce from their lands to goddess Samaleswari, to whom the festival is dedicated.  According to the calendar it is observed on panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

This is the most important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoing areas of Simdega in Jharkhand.