Vishuva Sankranti

Pana Sankranti
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)
2017 date	Fri, 14 April

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).

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.