Bhubaneswar 7.11.25(ADNews): Hotel Swosti premium celebrate the rich traditions of Odisha find a unique, festive blend with global Christmas customs & Chhadakhai each year and the traditional Christmas cake mixing ceremony and the local Chhadakhai.
The festive season kicks off months in advance at Hotel Swosti Premium. The local calendar marks a significant Odia tradition: Chhadakhai. This unique culinary festival takes place the day after the holy month of Kartika ends with Kartik Purnima. For many Odias, particularly the Habisyalis, the month of Kartika involves rigorous spiritual austerity and a strict vegetarian diet. Chhadakhai, which literally translates to “eating after a long time,” is the much-anticipated day when people return to their regular non-vegetarian diets. A grand farewell culinary feast, where families and communities gather to enjoy a variety of delicious fish, crab, prawns, and meat, was held across Odisha.
The formal ‘Cake Mixing Ceremony’. This ritual, observed globally, is steeped in the belief that it ushers in good fortune and happiness for the coming year. The preparation is no quick task. The ceremony marks the first step in creating the hotel’s traditional Christmas cake, a process that requires considerable time for the myriad ingredients to mature. A large table is laden with an assortment of dry fruits, nuts, 5 spices, and spirits. Ingredients like plum, cashewnuts, almonds, walnuts, dates, black current, figs, raisins, tutti frutti, winter gourd, & orange peel and many more added along with variety of spirits with rum occupying the prominent space. This what makes Brown n Cream plum & Dundee cakes different from other city cakes? Guests and staff dons apron and gloves to collectively mix the ingredients by hand. This communal activity is more than just a culinary chore; it is a social event that symbolizes unity and shared joy, setting a heart-warming tone for the Christmas celebrations that follow.
These two events, though originating from different cultural and religious backgrounds, share a common thread of celebration, community, and the enjoyment of food. The meticulous, long-term preparation of the Christmas cake parallels the patient adherence to the Kartika brata (vows), both culminating in a festive shared meal. In Bhubaneswar, these traditions coexist, weaving a diverse tapestry of celebration that honours both global Christmas joy and the unique local spirit of Odisha.
About the Author
