Bhubaneswar, June 14: Odisha is celebrating another unique festival, Raja Utsav, in a big way with all unmarried girls and women in their first year of marriage wearing new dresses and playing Doli (swings), boys playing cards and Bagudi game and all family members relishing Poda Pitha, a special baked cake, across districts.

'Raja Doli Katamata, Mo Bhai Mundare Suna Mukuta", meaning Raja swing making odd sounds (due to friction), my brother wearing a gold crown, is a popular song sung by girls while swinging during the festival.

Raja in Odia means menstruation in English. This means the festival is celebrated to mark the menstruation of Mother Earth. Thus girls celebrate this festival for three days. It is also stated that seed sowing begins just after Raja. This is an agricultural festival.

The Raja festival is celebrated for three days. While day one is called Pahili Raja, the next two days are celebrated as 'Raja Sankranti' and 'Thakurani Gadhua'.

While the festival is celebrated in rural areas most religiously, special programmes have been planned to mark the festival in the capital city Bhubaneswar and cultural cities Cuttack and Berhampur.

Besides relishing 'Poda Pitha' and other cakes, people, irrespective of age, also enjoy chewing 'Raja Pana' (betel), which contains varieties of non-tobacco spices. Apart from new dresses, girls do Mehendi and Alata and put on colourful bangles on the three-day festive occasion.

Girls don't walk barefoot on these three festival days.

Nowadays Odia people residing outside the State are also celebrating the festival in the community.

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