Raja (festival)

Raja Parba (Odia: ରଜ ପର୍ବ, pronounced [ɾɔdʒɔ pɔɾbɔ]), also known as Mithuna Sankranti, is a three-day-long festival of womanhood celebrated in Odisha, India.

In the medieval period, the festival became more popular as an agricultural holiday marking the worship of Bhumi, who is venerated as the consort of Jagannath, a regional form of Vishnu.

The final fourth day is called Basumati snana, in which the ladies bath the grinding stone as a symbol of Bhumi with turmeric paste and adore with flower, sindoor etc.

They pass these three days in joyous festivity and observe customs like eating only uncooked and nourishing food especially Podapitha, do not take bath or take salt, do not walk barefoot and vow to give birth to healthy children in future.

During all the three consecutive days, they are seen in the best of dresses and decorations, eating cakes and rich food at the houses of friends and relatives, spending long cheery hours, moving up and down on improvised swings, rending the village sky with their merry impromptu songs.

Through anonymous and composed extempore, much of these songs, through sheer beauty of diction and sentiment, has earned permanence and has gone to make the very substratum of Odisha's folk-poetry.

As all agricultural activities remain suspended and a joyous atmosphere pervades, the young men of the village keep themselves busy in various types of country games, the most favourite being 'Kabadi'.