Pana Sankranti, also known as Maha Vishuba 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 purnimanta system of lunar monthBaisakh. 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, 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, Bihu, Pohela Boishakh and Puthandu.
Observances
In the Odia tradition, the Pana Sankranti is believed to be the birthday of the Hindu deity Hanuman, whose loving devotion Lord Rama in Ramayana is legendary. His temples, along with those of Shiva and Surya are revered on the new year. Hindus also visit Devi 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
s 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. 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. 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. Uda Jatra is a traditional tribal festival similar as danda nata where iron nails hammered in the back of the devotees and tagged with a rope. Using this rope, the devotees are hanged and swinged around a wooden pillar. This festival is mainly celebrated in the northern part of Odisha specially in many tribal regions of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts.
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:
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.
