Sharmili Mallick

News Highlights

  • It is this time of the year when unmarried girls don new clothes, makeup, mehendi and take to swings while merrymaking with friends.

  •  Raja Parba is a three-day festival to celebrate womanhood.

  • Raja is a mass festival but due Covid-19 pandemic, people in the State this year have preferred to celebrate at their homes.

  • It is believed, that both go through menstrual periods during the time and so festivities are marked to celebrate the occasion.

It is this time of the year when unmarried girls don new clothes, makeup, mehendi and take to swings while merrymaking with friends. Raja Parba is a three-day festival to celebrate womanhood.

Also termed as the festival of harvest, the celebration of Raja is necessarily meant to give rest to women and mother earth as a mark of adulation for womanhood and fertility.

It is believed, that both go through menstrual periods during the time and so festivities are marked to celebrate the occasion.

Raja is a mass festival but due to the ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, people in the State this year have preferred to celebrate at their homes with their dear and near ones. 

Let's take a tour across Odisha to find out how people are celebrating the festival while keeping with the pandemic protocol.

Girls put 'alata' on their feet as they celebrate Pahili Raja today.
Little girl plays swing at her house in Kendrapara.
Unmarried girls, women celebrate first day of Raja at their house while adhering to social distancing norms in Kendrapara.
Young girls celebrate Raja by sharing pithas at their homes in Odisha
A family in Bhubaneswar celebrates Pahili Raja by eating special Paans.
Young girls play swing at their homes in Bhubaneswar.
A family in Cuttack celebrates Raja at home.
Girls decorate mehendi on their hands as they celebrate Pahili Raja in Bhubaneswar.

 

 

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