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Agira Purnima And Its Significance





Agira Purnima And Its Significance

Odisha is an agrarian society and Odias celebrate numerous agrarian festivals throughout the year. Agira Purnima is celebrated in the lunar month of Magha and is also known as Magha Purnima. The famous Agni Utsav is celebrated in the evening in which Agni (God of fire) is worshipped. 

Preparations for the utsav starts well in advance and the whole community gets involved in it. Hay and firewood is collected by every family and put together at one place for the occasion. As evening sets in the entire village gathers and sets the pile on fire. 

People offer sweet potatoes and brinjals to the fire which they eat after being roasted. Before climate change started happening, the month of Magha used to be the peak of winter. People in the villages would sit by the fire and make merry. 

Agni Utsav holds special significance for farmers who believe that the direction of the fire predicts the yield of crops for the coming year. An eastward tilt means there will be high tides and saline water would enter fields. A westward tilt predicts floods. Only a tilt towards the north-east means there will be a good crop.

Author: Debi prasad sahu

Debi is an auteur of minimalism and a connoisseur of world movies and music. He loves to go on gastronomic adventures and crack PJs. He writes poetry and is a hippie soul.

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