Rajja | A swinging festival of Odisha

 Let's Start

There are many festivals observed on many accessions in different different section of world. Festivals are main cause of economic development, social harmony, religious discipline and more over the rejoicing part of human beings. Most of time we celebrate festivals which we don't feel part of it and in such cases we create harmony with other religion and society. Most of festivals are mean to celebrate a particular view of the society which was followed long long time and in this cases the culture of society reflects how much it is particular to its culture and life. So there are many reasons among people to celebrate festivals. Festivals are different different types such as some are occassional, some are seasonal, some are continental, some are placial, some are religious etc. Here we are going to describe such a festival which is much much seasonal and very enjoyable.
Yes, definitely enjoyable if you have a festival with some fun activity like swinging! Most of us like swinging in the air and dreaming full life! If you have a chance of three days no work, visiting favourite places, preparing favourite delicacies and mostly enjoying with swings then what you will feel in these days. Of course there is no word to explain the rejoicing moment of life and here is such a festival which would bring you a memory full of life - 'The Raza' - A three day swinging festival. There is no date back to the starting of this festival as it is fully cultural and may be very old from ancestors to ancestors. It is a seasonal festival and mostly happens in the month of Asadha of Hindu Lunar Calendar. Yes it is a three day festival started in the mid of June when Sun transit to the Zodiac Mithuna(Gemini) mostly on 14th June to 16th June. Actually this is a Five day Festival including preparation to inauguration of cultivation on earth. As people enjoy three days in between so it is called as a three day festival.

Reason behind the festival 

The festival started with a holly aspiration to celebrate the puberty of the mother earth which commenced with the first rain drop of Rainy Season sank to the earth after a full hot summer. The farmers who ploughed his crop field and waiting for the rain feel a merry happy, the people feel relax from hot summer. This is the perfect time to sow seeds in the crop field for Kharif Crops(Monsoon Crops) which required so much water to grow crops within the next four months of Monsoon Season. This is the main cause which make this festival happen in this season. In astrology this is the cause of Mithuna(Zodiac Gemini) Sankranti the king of Kama(The sex) and which brings the sensational rain starting from this day.

In mythology it is believed that mother goddess Earth the divine wife of lord Vishnu undergoes early menstruation period in these three days and the fourth day people called it as Vasumathi Snana. The word Raja comes from Rajabatee which means menstruating woman. In the Puri Lord Jagannath Temple of Odisha it is celebrated by worshiping Bhudevi the wife of Lord Jagannath which still found aside Lord Jagannath as a silver idol. In this period the Ambubachi Mela also celebrated in the Kamakshya Temple of Assam on the myth of menstruation of goddess Kamakshya.

Customs and rituals 

So totally four days plus one more day as to prepare the whole festival called as Sajabaja the day before the first Raja. On this day people prepare all food ingredients including grinding spices and grinding rice for next three days so that people don't have to go outside to purchase anything. On the whole three days women are given rest and advised to don't work and don't go bare foot. Only on the preparatory day they dig earth and put bamboos and make swings. In this swing preparation there happens too much competition among local people. They make different different types of swings. Some are so high that anyone can get fear to play there. But due to competition and prize giving programs there often people get crowded and enjoy the swinging programs. All people wearing ethnic wears roaming here and there, enjoy music and melodies. Every face in this festival looks happy even people greet them each other with new treats which they specially make. There is a rule in this festival that no one will touch the ground until Vasumati Snan that means upto fourth day when the goddess earth will be worshiped with grinding stone which used in homes to grind spices. Not even earth, no one also allowed to cut trees which shows how it protects environment and how mighty is it. For whole three days there is no boring in any corner. People arrange different different tournaments in games and one of them very famous is Kabadi game. Even rain continues people enjoy this game in the muddy playground. Such a moment really memorable in every person who watched and participated in this game and the whole memory will be the festival which brought all these happenings in everybody in every moment. On the mid Raja that means on second day which always a Sankranti a holly day in Hindu Lunar calendar. On this day people are restricted to eat non-veg and rest two days they can do their delicacies as they want.

Monthwise Events and Festivals List of India

Indian Fairs and Festivals
Festivals in India are determined by Solar and Lunar positions and they may fall in the different month as specified below:-

January

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•International Yoga Week : : Jan 04 to Jan 08 : : India
•Islands Tourism Festivals : : Jan 05 to Jan 14 Each Year : : Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar
•National Kite Festival :  : Jan 14 Every Year : : Gujarat
•Maker Sankranti : : Jan 15
•Lohri :  : Jan 16
•Pongal :  : Jan 16
•Guru Govind Singh Jayanti :  : Jan 16
•Thai Pusam :  :  Jan 24, Tamilnadu
•Flot Festivals :  :
•Kerela Village Fair :  : Jan 15 to Jan 24 Every Year : : Kerala
•Bikaner Festival/Bikaner Camel Festival :  :  Jan 22-Jan 24 Every Year : : Rajasthan
•Republic Day India :  : Jan 26
•Pattadakal Dance Festival :  :  Mid Jan to Mid Feb : : Karnataka

•Ellora Festival : :  : : Aurangabad, Maharashtra

February

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place

•Surajkund Crafts Mela : : Feb 1 to Feb 15 Each Year : : Surajkund, Faridabad, Haryana
•Shekhawati Festival : : Feb 04 to Feb 07 : : Nawalgarh, Jhunjhun, Rajasthan
•Vasant Panchami :  : Feb 10 : : India
•Taj Mahotsav : : Feb 18 to Feb 27 Each Year : : Agra, Uttar Pradesh
•Goa Carniva/India Bike Week : : Feb 19 to Feb 20 : : Goa
•Shivaji Jayanti : : Feb 19
•Khajuraho Dance Festival : : Feb 20 to Feb 26 Each Year : : Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh  
•Guru Ravidas Jayanti : : Feb 22
•Desert Festival : : Dec 23 to Feb 29 : : Gujarat
•Nagaur Fair/World Sacred Spirit Festival : : Feb 22 to Feb 24 and Feb 26 to Feb 28
•Deccan Festival : : Feb 25 Each Year : : Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

March

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Chapchar Kut : : Mar 01 : : Mizoram
•Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti : : March 04
•Mahashivratri : : Mar 07
•Hoysla Mahotsava : : 2nd Week March : : Belur, Karnataka
•Jamshed-e-Navroz : : Mar 21 : : Muslim League
•Elephant Festival : : March 22 : : Jaipur, Rajasthan

•Holi : : Mar 23 : : India
•Dolyatra : : Mar 24 : : Odisha

•Good Friday : : Mar 25 
•Easter : : Mar 27 

April

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place

•Chaitra Sukhladi : : Apr 08
•Gudi Padva or Ugadi, Telugu New Year : : Apr 08 : : Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra
•Urs Festival : : Apr 09 : : Ajmer, Rajasthan
•Mewar : : April 9  to April 10 : : Mewar, Rajasthan
•Baisakhi : : Apr 13 : : India
•Maha Vishuv Sankranti, Odia New Year : : Apr 13 : : Odisha
•Ambedkar Jayanti : : Apr 14
•Mesadi/Vaisakhadi : : Apr 14
•Ramnavami : : Apr 15 : : India
•Pooram : : 17 Apr : : Kerala
•Mahavir Jayanti : : Apr 20 : : India
•Hazarat Ali's Birthday : : Apr 21
•Hingula Yatra : : Apr 22 : : Odisha

May

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
 •Labour Day : : May 01 : : India
 •Sabe-Meraz : : May 05 : : India. Islam
•Birthday of Ravindranath : : May 08
•Akshaya Trutiya : : May 9 : : Odisha 
•Buddha Purnima : : May 21 : : India
  •Sabe-Barat : : May 23 : : India. Islam

June

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Ganga Dussehra : : June 14, 2016. : : Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, and other holy cities along the Ganges such as Haridwar and Rishikesh.
•Savitree Vrat : : June 04 : : Odisha
•Hemis Festival : :
•Ramjan : : From June 07 to July 06 : : all India and Muslim Countries
•The Raja : : June 14 to June 16 : : Odisha
•Jyestha Purnima : : June 20 : : Odisha
•Kundalini Shakti Festival : : June 9-12, 2016. : : Kasol, Himachal Pradesh.
•Kottiyoor Utsavam : : May 2o to June 16 : : Kannur district, Kerala.
•Shimla Summer Festival : : June 11-13, 2016. : : Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
•Champakulam Boat Race : : June 20, 2016. : : Pampa River at Champakulam, not far from Alleppey in Kerala.
•The Yoga Shala Expo : : June 21-23, 2016. : : Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
•Ambubachi Mela : : June to be confirmed. : : Kamakhya temple, Guwahati, Assam.
•Sindhu Darshan Festival : : June 23-26, 2016. : : On the banks of the river Sindhu, Leh, Ladakh.
•Sao Joao Feast of St John the Baptist : : June 24, annually. : : North Goa, particularly Siolim.
•Feast of Saints Peter and Paul : : June 29, annually. : : Goa, particularly the riverside villages of Candolim, Siolim, Ribandar and Agassaim.
•Lucknow Mango Festival and Farmers Market : : June to be announced : : Habibullah Estate Orchard, Saidanpur village, Barabanki. Farmer's Market at UPSTDC Paryatan Bhawan, Gompti Nagar, Lucknow.

July

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Amarnath Yatra : : July 2 to August 18 : : On Mount Amarnath, Kashmir, India
•Dree Festival  : : July 04 to July 07 each year : :  Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh, India
•Puri Ratha Yatra : : July 06 to July 14 : : Puri Lord Jagannath Temple, Odisha
•Ramadan :  : June 06 July 06 : : Muslim Festival, World
•Id-ul-Fitr :  : July 06 : : Muslim Festival
•Royal Enfield Himalayan Odyssey : : July 9 to July 23 : : From Delhi to Leh and then back via Spiti.
•Sudasa Brat : : July 14 : : Odisha, India
•Guru Purnima : : July 19 : : India
•Njangattiri Aanayoottu (Elephant Feeding Ritual) : : July 22 : :  Kerala, India

August

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Janmashtami : : August 24
•Nag Panchami : : August 06
•Rakshabandhan : : August 18
•The Monsoon Festival : : August 4-14, 2016  : :  Delhi
•Teej Festival : : August 5-6 and 19-20, 2016 : :  Rajasthan, particularly in Jaipur and Bundi
•Nag Panchami : : August 7, 2016 : :  Mostly in rural areas, particularly Battis Shirala village, Maharashtra. Other popular places include Adiesha Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Nagaraja Temple in Kerala, Nagathamman Temple in Chennai, and Hardevja Temple in Jaipur.
•Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race : : August 13, 2016 : :  Punnamda Lake, Alleppey in Kerala
•Independence Day : : August 15, annually : :  India
•Jhapan Mela : : August 17, 2016 : :  The western region of West Bengal, at Bishnupur/Vishnupur (same place, just sometimes spelled differently due to translation) in the Bankura district.

•Gogamedi Fair : : August 26-28, 2016 : :  Ganganagar, on the northern Rajasthan border
•Teachers Day : : September 05, 2016 : :  India
•Teachers Day : : September 05, 2016 : :  India

September

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Teachers Day : : September 05, 2016 : :  India
•Nua Khai 2016 : : September 06, 2016 : : Sambalpur and other southern part of Odisha
•Lonavala International Film Festival : : September 1-5, 2016 : :  Triose Plaza, Lonavala, halfway between Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra
•Pune International Literary Festival  : : September 2-4, 2016 : :  Pune, about 3 hours from Mumbai in Maharashtra
•The Park's New Festival  : : Throughout September, starting September 2 in Chennai and ending September 22 in Delhi  : :  Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi
•Athachamayam Thrippunithura : : September 4, 2016 : :  Tripunithura, near Ernakulam in Kochi
•Ganesh Chaturthi : : September 5-15, 2016 : :  Mostly in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. One of the best places to experience the festival is in the city of Mumbai
•Id-ul-Zuha : : September 12, 2016 : :  Muslim Festival 
•Onam  : : September 14, 2016 (celebrations start 10 days prior and continue for around a week after)  : :  Kerala. The most spectacular celebrations take place in Trivandrum, Thrissur, and Kottayam
•Ramnagar Ramlila : : September 15-October 16, 2016 : :  Ramnagar, on the banks of the Ganges River opposite Varanasi
•Vishwakarma Puja : : September 16, 2016 : :  All over India
•Naropa 2016 : : September 16-22, 2016 : :  Hemis Monastery, near Leh in Ladakh
•Payippad Snake Boat Race : : September 16, 2016 : :  Along the Payippad River at Harippad in Kerala's Alleppey district
•Onam Pulikkali Tiger Play : : September 17, 2016 : :  Swaraj Round in Thrissur, Kerala
•Aranmula Snake Boat Race : : September 17, 2016 : :  Along the Pampa River at Aranmula near Chengannur, south of Alleppey in Kerala
•Ladakh Festival : : September 18-25, 2016 : :  Leh and surrounding villages
•Ziro Festival : : September 22-25, 2016 : :  Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh
•Neelamperoor Patayani : : September 29, 2016 : :  Palli Bhagavathi temple, Neelamperoor, Alleppey district, Kerala

October

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Gandhi Jayanti and Shashtri Jayanti : : October 2, 2016 : : India
•Durga Puja : : October 7, 2016 to October 11, 2016 : : North India especially in Kolkata and Cuttack
•Navratri : : October 10, 2016 : : North India
•Dussehra : : October 11, 2016 : : North India
•Laxmipuja Festival, Sharad Purnima and Kumar Purnima : : October 15, 2016 : : North India especially in Dhenkanal and Kendrapara
•Muharram : : October 12, 2016: Muslim Festival •Diwali : : October 30, 2016 : : All India

November

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•
•Guru Purab
•Ka Pomblang Nongrem
•Sonepur Fair
•Pushkar Fair
•Hampi Festival

December

Festivals/Events : : Date : : Place
•Christma
•Konark Dance Festival

Last Updated: 19 Sep 2016

The Rann Festival of Gujarat

The Rann Festival of Gujarat| A Great Desert Festival of India | Its Feature and Glory

Rann Tent City

The Rann festival is a desert festival celebrated in Kutch/Kachchha district of Gujarat in India each year from end week of December to the end of February in next year. The name behind the festival is familiar to local language ie 'Rann' means Desert. The local people often called it as 'Rann Utsav' which literally means desert festival. The very familiar peculiarity of celebrating this festival is its seasonal natural glory which often attracts spectators to draw the beauty posture of a rude nature where lives were not easy.

The Desert Festival History

Rann Location

If we go back to the history, before the starting of this festival the place was full of anxiety and fear that a few person were interested in it and that also for occasionally on business purpose but now a days the place is getting crowd day to day as travel has been renamed to adventurous activity and people choosing travel as their essential part of life. The first 'Rann Utsav' started in December 2005 for a 3 days event only, now it has been changed to a three months festival starting from December to February. It was Mr. Narendra Modi (Hon-able Prime Minister of India) under whose Chief Ministerial Term the festival development model was created and its success pave the way to become Prime Ministerial Candidate of India in May 2014 for him.

The Desert Festival Features and Glories

The Main Attraction

• Snow white Rann

The main attraction of the place is white snow like flat soil which covered with salt and blazes in the sun shine as the rain water has dried up, in the winters every year and create an illusionary lake that fills the dry Rann till the eye can see. It's best on full moon nights to see the moon shining on the salt. (December 25, January 24, and February 22)

• Chir Batti

At night, an unexplained strange dancing light phenomena known locally as Chir Batti(ghost lights) occurs in the Rann, the adjoining Banni grasslands and the seasonal wetlands.

• Mirages

Since the Rann is flat like a sheet of paper in the afternoons with bright sunshine a shimmering mirage forms which is like an illusionary lake that fills the dry Rann till the eye can see.

Culture and Heritage

A lot of women and young girls make their living by selling different types of embroidered cloths. The embroidery is of various styles such as Rabari, Ahir, Sindhi, Banni, Mutwa, Ari and Soof - and some styles include mirror or bead inlay.

Although it's becoming commercial and overcrowded day to day, the days are filled with folk dances and music, adventure sports, handicrafts, food stalls, and excursions to surrounding destinations. Hundreds of luxury tents are set up on the fringe of the white salt desert to accommodate visitors.

Amitabh Bachchan in his promotions for Gujarat Tourism titled Khushboo Gujarat Ki has also extensively shot in the Rann of kutch. Several scenes in Salman Rushdie Booker Prize winning novel 'Midnight's Children' take place in the Rann of Kutch, including a scene where the protagonist faints from heat stroke in the Rann's brutal climate

                                                                                                                

Traditional 'Bugga' style cottages

Traditional Bugga House

Traditional Bugga Interiors

Traditional 'Bugga Style Cottages' are very famous here. These are very suitable for the desert climate and having different economy prices for different class of  people.

The Kartik Festival of Odisha

In the Hindu Festivals there are a lot of Puja and Parvas are celebrated either individually or with flocks of people. All Hindu Festivals are mean to maintain pleasure and peace among the people itself. If we come across Hindu Lunar Calendar month wise we could find several festivals on several occasions. One of the great festivals among them is ‘Panchuka Brat’ which is observed in between second half of Nov in English Calendar. In Hindu Lunar Calendar it is observed from 11th (Ekadasi) to 15th(Full moon) for five days in Shukla Paksha (Waxing Moon-Last 15 days of the lunar month) in the month of ‘Kartika’.
Reason behind the festival:
While the autumn comes with the dew of mist spreading the message of rejoicing nature with little droplet of water that stick to the top of small grass and drizzling in the golden sun light and the cold air that make feel breathes the beauty of nature inside all the creatures on the earth, that time the people making this festival with the full off believes and rituals make them feel heavenly bliss and put into memory of every people.

The main reason behind this festival is uncertain but as per Hindu ritual and belief most festivals are based on ancient believes that rely upon ‘Puranas ‘(Holy Scripts).
Festival Description:
Panchuka Brata and Dangi Bhasa

 The Full Moon Day or 15th Day of the Shukla Paksha (waxing moon) of the Kartika month is considered as Karitka Purnima. During this month all the pious Hindus refrain themselves from eating fish, meat and egg. All of them take pre-dawn bath and visit temples as a matter of routine habit. The last five days are considered more sacred, in which there is wide participation of devotees. Taken together the days are called 'Panchuka’ (a period consisting of five days). Every day they take food only once in the afternoon which is known as 'Habisha'. And the last day being the "Kartika Purnima" people float toy boats made of colored paper, dried banana tree barks, and cork in the rivers and ponds by saying “Aa ka Ma Boi, Pana Gua Thoi, Pana Gua Tora, Masaka Dharama Mora” to get sacred by themselves. This is called Dangi Bhasa Festival Where the first three word of the rhyme are for three months which constitutes the season ‘Sharat’ (Autumn) i.e. Aa-Aashwina, Ka-Kartika, Ma-Margashira which are three consecutive Hindu Lunar Calendar Months.
Panchuka Brata and Bada Osha

During the full Panchuka five days women wake up in early morning and take sacred bath. After that they make rangoli and flower arts called ‘Chitas’ with some colored powder called ‘Muruja’ in front of their small temple called ‘Chaura’. This colorful morning is worth watching in each and every family of Odisha.
To make the Brata(worship) more sacred some people take holy bath in Puri Sea Beach and worship Lord Jagannath on this holy day and some people make the ‘Bada Osha’.- the day before the ‘Poornima’(Full Moon) that means 14th day of the month commonly observed as ‘Lord Shiva Chaturdashi’ or ‘Bada Osha’. Most of the Shiva temples get crowded with devotees offering prayer to Lord Shiva who is said to have killed the demon 'Tripurasura' on this day. Group singing of 'kirtans' and loud beating of 'Mrudanga' and cymbals continue for the whole day.
Boita Bandana and Bali Jatra – As an Ancient Festival

Another festival that takes place in the “Kartika Purnima” morning is significant to the ancienthistory of Orissa. This reminds the maritime glory of the State. In olden days the 'Sadhabas' (Sea Traders) used to sail off to distant Islands like Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ceylon etc. for trade by huge boats (Boita). The days are now gone, but the memory is still alive. Now, people float tiny boats made out of cork and colored paper or bark of the banana tree remembering the past glory. This is called "Boita Bandana". For the memory of this ancient event each year on “Kartik Purnima” day another big festival of Odisha called Bali Jatra is observed on the bank of river Mahanadi in Cuttack. Bali Jatra literally means, "Journey to Bali" and it also suggests a festival connected with Bali Island.

Bali Jatra is usually celebrated in Cuttack and other coastal parts of Orissa annually. It is a large and open air event on the bank of River Mahanadi at Cuttack adjacent to the Barabati Fort and stadium. There are several attractions for children in the fair. Food stalls in Bali Jatra sale Odia delicacies from different parts of the State. The famous delicacies like Rasagola of Salepur, Rasabali of Kendrapada, Mouthwatering Thunka Puri and Dahibara Alooudum of Cuttack, Chhenajhilli of Nimapada, Chenapoda of Nayahgarh, Palua Ladoo of Bhadrak etc. attract the visitors to the Bali Jatra Ground. In this fair vendors from different parts of India sell toys, and varieties of handicraft products.