Balangir wears festive look

BALANGIR: As Western Odisha gears up for Nuakhai on September 3, the district wore a festive look with markets bustling with people.

Natives are returning homes to celebrate the annual social event which acknowledges the benevolence of Mother Earth and partake of the first grains of paddy after harvesting the kharif crop and offering the same to the gods. Pre-festive activities have caused massive traffic jams in the otherwise sleepy streets.

From buying new dresses for family members to women in rural areas applying mud on their huts, locals are looking forward the to the series of festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi,  Nuakhai and Dusshera.

According to reports, people from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are even witnessing shortage of bus tickets to go to their villages.

Harish Tripathy, a student of a private engineering college in Bhubaneswar, said he has failed to get bus tickets for the past two days. The festival, which celebrates the relationship between nature and human beings, will be observed on Tuesday.