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Raja Sankranti (Swing festival) or "Mithuna Sankranti"
is the first day of the month of 'Asara' from, which the season of rains
starts. It inaugurates and welcomes the agricultural year all over
Orissa, which marks, through biological symbolism, the
moistening of the summer parched soil with the first showers of the
monsoon, thus making it ready for productivity.
Welcoming the Monsoon
To celebrate the advent of monsoon, the joyous festival is arranged for
three days by the villagers. Though celebrated all over the state it is
more enthusiastically observed in the districts of Cuttack,
Puri and
Balasore. The first day is called "Pahili
Raja" (Prior Raja), second is "Raja" (Proper Raja) and
third is "Basi Raja" (Past Raja).
Legend
According to popular belief as women menstruate, which is a sing of
fertility, so also Mother Earth menstruates. So all three days of the
festival are considered to be the menstruating period of Mother Earth.
During the festival all agricultural operations remain suspended. As in
Hindu homes menstruating women remain secluded because of impurity and do
not even touch anything and are given full rest, so also the Mother Earth
is given full rest for three days for which all agricultural operations
are stopped.
Significantly, it is a festival of the unmarried girls, the potential
mothers. They all observe the restrictions prescribed for a menstruating
woman. The very first day, they rise before dawn, do their hair, anoint
their bodies with turmeric paste and oil and then take the purificatory
bath in a river or tank.
Peculiarly, bathing for the rest two days is prohibited. They don't walk
bare-foot do not scratch the earth, do not grind, do not tear anything
apart, do not cut and do not cook. 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.
The Melody Of The Festivity
The swings are of different varieties, such as 'Ram Doli', 'Charki Doli',
'Pata Doli', 'Dandi Doli' etc. Songs specially meant for the festival
speak of love, affection, respect, social behaviour and everything of
social order that comes to the minds of the singers. 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 Orissa's folk-poetry.
While girls thus scatter beauty, grace and music all around, moving up
and down on the swings during the festival, young men give themselves to
strenuous games and good food, on the eve of the onset of the monsoons,
which will not give them even a minute's respite for practically four
months making them one with mud, slush and relentless showers, their
spirits keep high with only the hopes of a good harvest.
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'. Competitions
are also held between different groups of villages. All nights 'Yatra'
performances or 'Gotipua' dances are arranged in prosperous villages where
they can afford the professional groups. Enthusiastic amateurs also
arrange plays and other kinds of entertainment.
Culinary Delights
The special variety of cake prepared out of recipes like rice-powder,
molasses, coconut, camphor, ghee etc. goes in the name of "Poda Pitha"
(burnt cake). The size of the cake varies according to the number of
family members. Cakes are also exchanged among relatives and friends.
Young girls do not take rice during the three-day festival and sustain
only with this type of cake, fried-rice ('Mudi') and vegetable curry.