Next: about 14 to 16 Jun 2027
Raja Parba
Odisha keeps three days of rest for Mother Earth before the monsoon, with swings, pithas and new sarees for girls and women.
What is worn for Raja Parba
Raja Parba is a three day festival of Odisha held in mid June, when the sun enters Gemini and the first rains come. The earth is thought to rest and renew herself, like a woman, so ploughing and digging stop. Girls and young women are freed from housework, swing on ropes tied to trees, play games and eat pitha, the rice cakes of the state. They wear new sarees, and many put on alta, the red dye, on the feet, and flowers in the hair. Cotton and silk sarees of Odisha, such as Sambalpuri, are popular. The first day is often the 14th, with the later days following, and the exact start can shift by a day.
The sarees
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Raja (festival)" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bomkai sari: Nayansatya, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sambalpuri sari: Rahul191313, CC BY-SA 4.0, source