It never rains...

Not a minute too soon, monsoon season arrived in Bhubaneswar this week. In Orissa there is a three day festival called Rajo (or raja, or roja) which celebrates the arrival of monsoon season and freakishly, the weather behaved and monsoon started right on cue with a sudden drop in temperature and heavy rains.

I was invited to attend some festivities in a slum called Salia Sahi which happens to be right next-door to my new apartment complex. It is the biggest slum in Bhubaneswar with up to 50,000 inhabitants, and one of the biggest in India.

My friend Sue who just arrived from Australia (via a month in Assam) came as well. We were decorated by the girls and boys with mehindi, nail polish and the Rajasthani foot-thingy. We were also a magnet for the local media that turned up!

It doesn't take long in Orissa, as a foreigner, until you're thrust into the media spotlight. Sue made it four days which, considering two of those days we were at the beach, is a remarkable achievement.

http://www.orissatv.com/NewsDetail.asp?newsId=NS42996

Some info on Raja:

Raja is an agriculture oriented festival, mostly observed in the coastal districts of Orissa for three days. It also inaugurates the agricultural year all over Orissa which marks the moistening of summer parched soil with the first shower of monsoon making it ready for productivity. To celebrate the advent of monsoon the joyous festival is arranged for three days.  During this festival Mother Earth or "Basu Mata" is considered to be a menstruating woman. Hence digging of soil or tempering it in any way is strictly prohibited. The Mother Earth is said to undergo pollution due to menstruation and given rest just like a woman imposed with several restrictions.

Raja is also considered as one of the chief festivals of unmarried girls or the potential mothers. The women folk, especially the virgins, forbid all kinds of manual works during these three days of Raja-festival. They don't carry water, cut vegetables, sweep the houses, sew clothes, grind grains, comb hair, walk in bare foot etc. So, all kind of restrictions are imposed both for the land and the women-folk.

The unmarried girls or virgins observe the restrictions prescribed for a menstruating woman. On the first day of Raja Sankranti they rise before the dawn, do their coiffure, anoint their bodies with turmeric paste and oil, then take the purification bath in the river or tank. Bathing for the next two days of the festival is strictly prohibited. During these three days girls are seen in the best of their dresses and decorations, eating cakes and rich food at the houses of friends and relatives. They move up and down in the swings rending the village sky with their joyous impromptu songs. The swings are tied to the branches of Mango or Banyan trees and decorated with garlands of different flowers. The virgins of the village gather there on this festive occasion and one of them is elected as Dolo-rani (queen of the swing). When the queen takes her seat on the swing, the virgins move her forward and backward with chorus of charming songs. These songs are full of jolly spirit of girl-hood days and refer to glorious future, happy love and would be marriage with suitable husbands.