Popular Odia actresses share their plans for Raja
Raja festival is celebrated with joy, especially by girls of age across Odisha. The festival is also a time when young girls, attired in gorgeous dresses, take to the swings. The festival was popular mainly in rural areas, but now city dwellers also celebrate the occasion.
It is that time of the year again when Odia households bustle with preparations for a festival called ”Raja” that celebrates womanhood. This event marks the period of fertility regeneration of the earth, equivalent to the menstrual cycle women undergo.
Raja is shorthand for the word Rajaswala (meaning a menstruating woman) and is celebrated across Odisha and Odias living outside. It signifies the menstrual cycle of the earth, similar to that of a woman. Just like women go into a resting phase during “”periods””, the earth is considered a latent stage. This resting period of the earth is when all agricultural activities are forbidden.
Odia celebrity asked a few women celebrities about their Raja plans. Actress Suryamayee Mohapatra said, “”My mom she is very spiritual from childhood. Since we started going to school, we have always kept hearing to all the Anuradha Porwal Odia bhajan songs, starting from khudurikuni to Raja, every festival we celebrate. My mom is an excellent chef, and she loves to prepare food for neighbours and relatives……during Raja ….starting from Atla to chandan tika…..to new dress, Pitha pana, pana, each and every tiny thing we experience with lots of joy and love.”
She added that she is an animal lover “”….since few years I have celebrated every festival with my pets and street animals ….I offer food and water whenever possible …and I do believe we all should as we are sharing their place too…if you ask me about my goal ….its to open an animal shelter which I certainly will….for all the street animals…who need us most.””
Actress Swapna Priyadarshini is also celebrating Raja with her new movie Love in London, which will release on June 13.
She said, “This time, Raja would be very special to me as my movie Love In London is releasing tomorrow. I am really happy this time. I, as an actor, can entertain and bring a smile to my audiences’ faces through my work on screen. Getting ready with ethnic wear and having raja special food will be mandatory. I’mI’m glad that I’llI’ll be mostly working and promoting the film during raja, which will also allow me to celebrate it with many other people from different regions of Odisha.
Actress Bhoomika Dash said this time, she would be going to Dubai to celebrate Raja with Odia people there. Actress Baisali who gave a superhit movie Phalguni Chaitra will spend Raja in Mumbai.