In Odia culture 1st January is not the start of new year.
Pana Sankranti is the new year day according to the Odia calendar. Everyone in Odisha knows that Pana Sankranti is the Odia new year.
Pana Sankranti, also known as Maha Vishuba Sankranti, is the traditional new year day festival of Odias in Odisha, India.
The festival occurs in the solar Odia calendar on the first day of the traditional solar month of Meṣa, hence equivalent lunar month Baisakha. The beginning of the Oriya New Year is scientifically sound and its calculation is based on the number of solar eclipses.
The method is believed to have originated in Odisha’s first astronomer, Satanandacharya. There are five types of motion on Earth, three of which are direct and two that are indirect. Only on this day, the Sun fully rests on the equator on two occasions namely ‘Mesha Sankranti’ and ‘Tula Sankranti’.
This day is named after ‘Pana’, the main drink offering specially prepared on this occasion. Here Pana is a juice made out of ripped Indian bael, grapes, apple slices, coconut slices, curd, cheese, sugar and black pepper commonly.
Pana is very healthy to drink. But this recipe varries in test due to availablity of ingredients in different districts of Odisha.
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