Jay Jagannath , 

It is raja. Let’s talk about periods. Raja is pronounced as “Raw-Jaw” derived from the Sanskrit word “Rajaswala” which means menstruator. This is an important festival of Odisha celebrating feminity. 

In Odisha we celebrate womanhood in different forms every month(13 festivals in a year (Lunar calendar)). This is a very special festival teaching us how to take care of ourselves and slow down. The world teaches us that slowing down is a luxury but it’s a norm here. My favorite part of festivals is how they come packaged with their own rulebook. 

I am a newly turned believer after being an agnostic all my life. Now my side quest is finding which aspects of my culture benefits me in the long run and which are man -made (literally MAN MADE) for the purpose of keeping us inferior and discard them. 

It is the grand beginning of monsoon and also called the preparatory phase of Mother earth ”Bhudevi” according to RigVeda. Even though this festival has deep agricultural roots, Its believed that Bhudevi undergoes her periods and hence we need to be gentle. 

Raja is celebrated for 5 days – 4 days showing 4 phases of the cycle which has instructions on what to eat and how to manage to-do-lists according to cycles. The fifth day is instructions for pre-menarche and menopause people for better bone health and overall lifestyle.

In 2026 also , in some places I have seen my fellow uterus owners being discreet about periods like its a Dhurandhar operation. But in the land of Lord Jaganatha we celebrate it as a symbol of creativity, empathy and womanhood. (Earlier it was Maa Laxmi’s land but she got angry and went to live near her beachside villa, that’s a story for another day)

For others who identify as females later in life, Raja holds a special value – on those 5 days if someone comes to your home and says from today my new name is “y” not “x” and confirms pronouns we feed them with raja delicacies and accept the day as their new birthdays. Raja is for all females. All the housework from cleaning the home to preparation of delicacies are to be done by men. It makes the boys of the house into men when they start partaking in household chores and understand the nutritional cycle required of females around them. 

It starts on Day 1 as a “raja saja baja” bath with turmeric paste to prepare for the next three days. Turmeric helps the skin problem during the luteal phase. 

The fourth day is “Basumati Snana” where ladies bathe the grinding stone as a symbol of Bhudevi with turmeric paste and adore it with flowers, sindoor etc. This is a way of showing respect to the stone which feeds us all year. Now – a – days families use a grinder for masalas so females gather in a common place and do it. I wonder if the grinder-mixer was not an electronic machine would they have given it the place of Bhudevi too ? 

Girls adorn Alata- a red paste made from a special type of stone, on the feet of girls. This is believed to cool their feet. Then we get to play in swings which remind us of our moods being cyclic and we need to be gentle with our emotions. Most importantly the cyclic nature of life. It’s a self affirmation that we will always honour the natural and rhythmic nature of our bodies and mind. Then we play cards in the afternoon as it’s hot outside and kabbadi in the evening as a reminder to adjust our fitness goal according to cycle. 

Now the best part of this festival – tempting treats like Poda Pitha (which also happens to be Lord Jagannath’s favorite, he travels in ratha yatra to eat this), Aarisa pitha , Manda pitha, Kakara and many more odia traditional sweets and savory dishes whose recipes are passed down from generation to generation. Of course after eating all this you need paan – betel leaf adorned with a delightful assortment of flavours. 

The significance of these dishes are – it nourishes and rejuvenates the body especially during menstruation. And four days reminds us to take charge of a 4 phase diet. It provides a platform for conversation around menstruation fosters a sense of community creating a strong network of understanding and empathy.