Pana Sankranti

Pana Sankranti
File:Ghantapatua.JPG Odias welcome the new year with traditional dances by Ghanta Patua at fairs.
Official name	"ପଣା ସଂକ୍ରାନ୍ତି"
Also called	Maha Bisuba Sankranti
Observed by	Odia people
Type	Buddhists, Hindu
Significance	New Year
Celebrations	Meru Yatra, Jhaamu Yatra, Chadak Parba
Observances	Pujas, processions, eating sattu and Bela Pana
Date	1 Vaisakha (Odia calendar, amanta system)

Pana Sankranti, also known as Maha bisuba Sankranti, is the traditional new year day festival of Buddhists and Hindus in Odisha, India. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the lunisolar calendar, as the first day of the traditional solar month of Mesha. This is identical to the amanta system of lunar month Baisakh (on purnimanta system, it is the 24th day of Chaitra). It therefore almost always falls on 14 April every year on the Gregorian calendar.

The festival is celebrated with visits to Shiva, Shakti, or Hanuman temples, as the day is considered to be the birthday of Hanuman. People take baths in rivers or major pilgrimage centers. Communities participate in mela (fairs), watch street dance or acrobatic performances. A notable climax of the social celebrations is fire-walk, where volunteers sprint over a bed of burning coal while being cheered with music and songs. Feasts and special drinks such as a chilled sweet mango-milk-yoghurt-coconut drink called Pana is shared, a tradition that partly is the source of this festival's name.

Pana Sankranti is similar to new year festivals observed by Hindus elsewhere such as Vaisakhi (north and central India), Bihu (Assam), Pohela Boishakh (Bengal), Vishu (Kerala) and Puthandu (Tamil Nadu).

Observances

Bela Pana is a special festive sweet drink made from milk, ripe fragrant fruit of bael and spices, shared on Odia new year.

Basundhara theki (a small pot) used on Pana Sankranti

In the Odia tradition, the Pana Sankranti is believed to be the birthday of the Hindu deity Hanuman, whose loving devotion to Vishnu avatar Rama in Ramayana is legendary. His temples, along with those of Shiva and Surya (sun god) are revered on the new year.

Hindus also visit Devi (goddess) temples on Pana Sankranti. The temples include Taratarini Temple near Brahmapur, Odisha in Ganjam, Cuttack Chandi, Biraja Temple, Samaleswari temple and Sarala Temple. At Sarala Temple the priests walk on hot coals in the fire-walking festival, Jhaamu Yatra. At the Maa Patana Mangala Temple in Chhatrapada, Bhadrak, the Patua Yatra festival is held from 14 April to 21 April. In Northern Odisha, the festival is known as Chadak Parva. In Southern Odisha, the Meru Yatra festival is celebrated as the end of the month-long Danda nata dance festival. Thousands of devotees gather at the Shakti Pitha shrine in the Taratarini Temple because it is one of the auspicious days during the Chaitra Yatra. People from all over the state eat festive chhatua and drink Bel Pana to mark the occasion.

Main festival

Main article: Ghantapatua

Ghantapatuas are traditional male folk artistes from the Odisha that perform the art form "Jhama nata" during Pana Sankranti. They generally perform in a group of two or four wearing dresses that resemble women's clothing.

Main article: Danda nata

File:Bali jata Lankeswari Temple Sonepur Odisha.jpg

A group street performance on Pana Sankranti near the Lankeswari Temple, Sonepur, Odisha.

The Odia families in the city gather at their community hall in Kukdey Layout during these celebrations.

Danda nata that is performed during this festival celebration is one of the most ancient forms of performance art of the region. The opening ritual begins in the middle of Chaitra (March - April). The performers, also known as Dandua, take dip in a village pond and walk/run over hot charcoals while performing the art. After performing danda nata they also perform jala dandaby dipping themselves in deep water for a short while. These performances symbolize the liberation from physical pain.

Related holidays

This new year day is celebrated elsewhere by other names. It is called Vaisakhi by Hindus and Sikhs in north and central India, which too marks the solar new year. The same day every year is also the new year for many Buddhist communities in parts of southeast Asia such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Cambodia, likely an influence of their shared culture in the 1st millennium CE. Some examples include:

1. Vishu in Kerala
2. Vaisakhi in central and north India
3. Pohela Boishakh in West Bengal and Tripura, as well as Bangladesh
4. Rongali Bihu in Assam
5. Bikram Samwat/Vaishak Ek in Nepal
6. Aluth Avuruthu in Sri Lanka.
7. Songkran in Thailand
8. Chol Chnam Thmey in Cambodia
9. Songkan/Pi Mai Lao in Laos
10. Thingyan in Burma

However, this is not the universal new year for all Hindus. For some, such as those in and near Gujarat, the new year festivities coincide with the five day Diwali festival. For many others, the new year falls on Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, which falls a few weeks earlier.

See also

• Chandaneswar