Raja Celebration Kicks Off In City With Dance, Music & Philanthropy

Bhubaneswar: Raja kicked off on Thursday with great enthusiasm in the city as people celebrated it in a grand way. While some meandered in the fair, swinging on the ‘jhulas’, some went around in their crisp new clothes to taste myriad delicacies.

There were some who organized meetings and functions to celebrate the festival of womanhood. City-based organization Darpan organized a competition for young girls, at Jaydev Bhavan, which included dance, music and Miss Pari where a lot of girls tried their best to win. While the stage was lit with glittery smiles, the outer premises had a small food market put up by homemakers of the city.

Giving an unique twist to the Raja fest, Bhubaneswar Maha Sangathan (BMS), on Thursday, celebrated it with the children of prisoners at Madhur Mayee Adarsha Sikshya Niketab, a hostel of prisoners’ children, adjacent to Jharpara Special Jail.

The members of BMS distributed new clothes, chocolates, cookies and sweets among the children and interacted with them. Following this, meals were provided to the children in the afternoon.

“BMS have been conducting various social activities like distribution of relief materials among flood victims, blood donation, plantation, women empowerment, welfare of slum dwellers and cleanliness drives at different parts of the city for the last five years”, senior leaders of the organisation said.

Odiani Samiti, organized yet another event ‘Raja Mauja’, with Poda Pitha and Raja paan. The gathering savored the delicious traditional food while enjoying poetry, music and dance programme.

At Rabindra Mandap, one of the oldest celebrations ‘State Level Raja Mahotsava’ had its 19th year. There were entertainment programmes like ‘sankha nacha’, ‘godha nacha’, and Sambalpuri dance. Ollywood actress Bhoomika also gave a beautiful performance while popular singers Barnali Hota and Susmita Das pumped up the evening with their melodious voice.

Keeping with the capital city’s festive mood, Cuttack also had 19th Raja Mahotsava organized by Soor Mandir, in collaboration with Barabati Sarbadharma Sanskritika Parisad. The event started today and will conclude on June 16 at Saheed Bhavan.