Children perform folk dance during a cultural evening on the occasion of Raja in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 15: The chorus folk songs audible till miles in many villages could be missing these days, but the urban mood of Raja — one of the state’s biggest festival — is just as fervent.

The swings — probably the most visible symbol of the arrival of Raja after young girls clad in new clothes and women wearing alata — can be seen everywhere in the twin cities, on balconies, verandahs and gardens.

Women thronged shopping malls and movie theatres on Tuesday, as it was Pahili Raja – the first day of the festival. They could also be seen at the numerous paan outlets that have mushroomed on the street sides.

“Preparing paan is not possible since we are not used to it. But my friends and I definitely taste paan during Raja. In fact, malls have installed paan stalls, making it easy for us,” says college-goer Priti, busy shopping at a mall with a group of friends.

Talking about her love for swings, Priti’s friend Ankita says, “Swings bring back childhood memories and are still as exciting. With busy study schedules, this festival is the sweetest break we could ask for.”

Adding zing to the celebrations, a string of cultural events have been lined up in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to uphold the ethos of the festival.

The 12th state level Raja celebration, organised by Darpan on Monday at Rabindra Mandap in the capital, was marked by music, dance, drama and the city’s very own pitha contest.

This elaborate and colourful culture event had six different programmes to treat the eyes of the audience. The stage was decorated with a thatched roof village hut and a doli adorned with flowers and leaves.

To gel with the festive mood, a pitha bazaar, was also set up to let people savour the fun and frolic and indulge in the delectable delights of everyone’s favourite mandaa, kakara, aarisha and poda pitha.

The show started with sub-junior and junior Odissi dance competition.

Young Odissi dancers Gauri Shankar Das, Saswat Joshi, Sagarika Mohanty and Samarpika Nayak judged 15 budding talents.

The torchbearers of Odissi nritya marvelled the spectators with their intricate footwork and aesthetically pleasing dance performances.

It was then time for the much awaited puchi khela. Maiden girls of all age groups, decked in traditional attire and flower bracelets joined the rhythm of conventional Oriya songs to participate in the “twist and turn” and not-so-easy puchi khela.

The viewers had no option but to burst into loud applause.