RAJA – a festival for respecting motherhood and mother earth has been celebrated by Odia Diaspora across the globe.

Bureau,Odishabarta

NEW DELHI. 15 JUNE 2021. Traditional Odia festival of Raja (pronounced Raw-Jaw), which celebrates womanhood through worship of the Mother Earth, was celebrated virtually on Monday by Delhi-based forum of intellectuals, The Intellects. The program witnessed enthusiastic participation of Odias from across the world.

A congregation of well-known women cultural leaders and young artistes shared their nostalgic memory about the festival while presenting their performances, in the program presided by Chairman of the Organization, Shri Debendra N Rout.

Noted Odissi dance exponent and Chairperson of Odisha Sangeet NatakAkademi, Dr Aruna Mohanty, who joined as the Chief Guest, highlighted the importance of the festival while reminiscing about the festival in her childhood. Dr Sangeeta Gosain, the Director of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre, joined as the Honorable Guest. In her address, she touched upon how the festival shapes the psyche of the young Odia girls. Poet and veteran politician Dr Prasanna Patasani highlighted on the spiritual aspect of the Raja festival.

The Intellects’ annual Mahaka Mo Matira (Fragrance of My Land) award for 2021 were conferred on two leading women of Odisha. Noted social worker and winner of Padmashri award, Mrs. Shanti Devi was given the award for her lifetime sacrifice for the cause of women, while Mrs. Kalyani Sanghamitra, an administrator was honored for her commitment and success in fighting the COVID pandemic in Ganjam district of Odisha.

Noted artistes who participated in the program by sharing their memories, advices and presentations included singereSusmita Das, Anindita Das, Adyasha Das, PritinandaRoutray; dancers Kavita Dwibedi, Kasturi Pattnaik, Gayatri Mishra Joshi, Kavita Mishrea and Shimaran Zaman.

The cultural program was attended by Odias from countries like the US, UK, Canada, Qatar, Dubai, Malaysia Singapore, Russia Germany, Japan, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The program was introduced by ParambrahmaTripathy and was conducted by Binapani Pradhan. Chairman of The Intellects president Debendra Rout made the guests aware about the objectives and goals behind the celebration while vice president Pankajmala Sarangi offered the vote of thanks.

This online program was smoothly conducted by Sonali Swain, Smruti Ranjan Mishra, Aryan Rout, Rabinarayan Sarangi, Nagendranath Swain and others.