Raja

The tradition & historical record

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. The second day of the festival signifies beginning of the solar month of Mithuna, from which the season of rains starts. ¹

It is believed that the Hindu goddess Bhumi, the Mother Earth aspect of goddess Mahalakshmi and consort of the Vishnu, experiences menstruation during the first three days of the festival. The fourth day is called Vasumati Snana, or the ceremonial bath of Bhumi. The term Raja came from the Sanskrit word rajas, which means menstruation, and a menstruating woman is called rajasvala. 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. A silver murti of Bhumi is present in the Puri Temple beside Jagannath. ¹

It falls in mid June, the first day is called Pahili Raja, second day is Mithuna Sankranti, third day is Bhudaaha or Basi Raja. 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. All type of seasonal fruits are offered to mother Bhumi. The day before first day is called Sajabaja or preparatory day during which the house, kitchen including grinding stones are cleaned, spices are ground for three days. During these three days women and girls take rest from work and wear new Saree, Alata, and ornaments. It is similar to Ambubachi Mela. The most popular among numerous festivals in Odisha, Raja is celebrated for three consecutive days. Just as the earth prepares itself to quench its thirst by the incoming rain the unmarried girls of the family are groomed for impending matrimony through this festival. 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. The most vivid and enjoyable memories one has of the Raja gaiety is the rope-swings on big banyan trees and the lyrical folk-songs that one listens from the nubile beauty enjoying the atmosphere. To celebrate the advent of monsoon, the joyous festival is arranged for five days by the villagers. Though celebrated all over the state it is more enthusiastically observed in all over Odisha but celebrated with much fervor across the coastal districts. The first day is called "saja baja", second day is called "Pahili Raja", third is "Raja Sankranti" and fourth is "Bhumi Dahana or Basi Raja". ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Raja (festival)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Raja is festival of Odisha, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²