Bhubaneswar: The Odia New Year was celebrated with much fanfare across the state on Saturday.

The festival, known as Maha Vishuba sankranti or pana sankranti, also included celebrations of Lord Hanuman's birthday and the launch of the new almanac for the Odia community.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished the people of Odisha on the occasion. Modi tweeted: "To all my Odia friends across the world, greetings on Maha Vishuba Sankranti! Have a wonderful year ahead. We take immense pride in the rich Odia culture." Naveen also shared a message in Odia for the people of the state.

Various rites and ceremonies were conducted to celebrate the religious magnitude of the festival. Free distribution of pana (cool drinks) has also been ensured in many temples.

"Since it is the birth celebrations of Lord Hanuman, every year, on pana sankranti, devotees visit temple, offer pana to the deities and consume it after consecration," said Anshuman Mishra, a priest at a temple at Nayapalli.

Bel pana prepared from a blend of fruits, water, milk, pulp of bel (stone apple), curd and sugar is the most common variety of pana and is offered to deities and distributed among friends. It is also prepared at home on the pana sankranti.

Another special variety of this drink, amba pana, is prepared from mango pulp and offered to Lord Jagannath. Devotees of Lord Shiv also bathed the Shivling with pana during the festival.

In twin cities, temples organise free lunch that have a lavish menu of Odia dishes.

In Puri, the jaga akhadas (local wrestling clubs) celebrate the day with bouts on clay, known as maati kushti. Similarly, in Berhampur, devotees get together to worship local goddesses. "We express our wishes to Lord Jagannath by offering pana to the deity on the occasion of the Odia New Year. Similarly, the beverage is offered to Lord Shiv by adding a little bhaang," said Mahesh Nath, a researcher in Puri.