Raja Festival 2016

During the Raja festival this year, I came across some real truths of life.

While passing by the villages in Orissa, I happened to come across these beautiful n innocent kids celebrating Rajo Festival among friends.

The smile and innocence of these kids to explore the world as it comes, left me thinking that sometimes life is very simple.

I realised how important it is travel or be in move to learn the lost values of life. 

Raja Festival

  Raja Parba or Mithuna Sankranti (Odia: ରଜ ପର୍ବ) is a three-day-long festival and the second day signifies beginning of the solar month of Mithuna from, which the season of rains starts. It inaugurates and welcomes the agricultural year all over Odisha, which marks, through biological symbolism, the moistening of the sun dried soil with the first showers of the monsoon in mid June thus making it ready for productivity. 

This is very symbolic for the Women as it marks for their power to reproduce. 

It is believed that the mother goddess Earth or the divine wife of Lord Vishnu undergoes menstruation during the first three days.The fourth day is called as Vasumati gadhua or ceremonial bath of Bhudevi.The term Raja has come from Rajaswala (meaning a menstruating woman) and during medieval period the festival became more popular as an agricultural holiday remarking the worship of Bhudevi, who is the wife of lord Jagannath.

During the three days women take a break from household work and time to play indoor games. Girls decorate themselves with new fashion or traditional Saree and Alatha(Red colour liquid) in feet. All people abstain from walking barefoot on earth. Generally various Pithas(Sweet dishes) are made of which Podopitha,and Chakuli Pitha are main. People play a lot of indoor and outdoor games. Girls play swings tied on tree branches whereas aged ladies play Cards and Ludo.Many villages organise Kabbadi matches among young men.