Bhubaneswar, June 15: The cloudy weather, a respite from the sweltering heat, and the festival season has turned out to be a great combination for the celebrations of Raja in the city.

Large crowds were witnessed at various tourist spots and entertainment parks today. A number of people planned small outings at spots such as Nandankanan Zoological Park, Jayadev Vatika and at the foothills of Dhauli.

"All these places are located within 30km of Bhubaneswar and are popular picnic spot. To celebrate the occasion, I joined my family for an outing at Sikharchandi," said Priyanka Nath, a social worker.

People across the state observed Raja sankranti today by offering special prayers at various shrines and temples. Large crowds were witnessed at temples such as Lingaraj, Iskcon, Jaleswar and Satya Nagar Kali Bari among others. In Cuttack, people formed queues in front of temples such as Chandi Mandir, Panchamukhi Hanuman and Ram Mandir and Gadagadeswar temple across Cuttack.

Many people, especially girls, donated essential commodities including blankets, sweets and other essential food items to the poor.

Ankita Mohapatra and her college friends have been saving up since the last six months to take up charity work during the festival.

"As the weather was very enjoyable, we booked three cars and took out girls from an orphanage to Puri," she said.

Some students went on bicycle expeditions, while Kandhei Bahaghara or doll marriage was performed on the occasion at Kundeshwar village in Kakatpur of Puri district.

"Six of my friends and I cycled from Bhubaneswar to Naraj in Cuttack. It was not hot, so cycling was great fun," said Anshuman Patnaik, a student of Utkal University.