Pahili Raja 2026

Odisha has commenced the celebration of the Raja festival with the onset of ‘Pahili Raja’ on Sunday. Young women and children have started their Raja celebration from early morning.

The Raja Parba is celebrated as a vibrant three-day agrarian festival to honour womanhood and the fertility of Mother Earth. Pahili Raja also marks the arrival of the monsoon at the beginning of the Odia month of Ashadha. During these three days, no farm work is done as the farmers let mother earth rest for a brief period.

The festival is widely celebrated across the state in both urban and rural areas where young women and children adorn new clothes, apply alta on their feet and mehendi on their hands and eat traditional delicacies like Poda Pitha, Chakuli, Manda, and Arisa Pitha, alongside special Raja Paan crafted with sweetened spice.

During these three days of celebration, girls gather to swing on traditional Raja swings while singing customary Raja songs. Meanwhile, boys participate in various leisure games, including cards, Ludo, and Bagudi.

A large number of cultural festivals have been organized in the capital Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack and other districts. In particular, the ‘International Raj Utsav’ being held at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar is attracting a huge crowd of people.

Tomorrow, the main day of Raja, ‘Raj Sankranti’, will be celebrated. On the third day, ‘Basi Raj’ will be observed and on the fourth day, ‘Basumati Sana’ will be celebrated.