Scene 1: Visualize this in a home.
Mother wakes up every morning, early, sweeps all the rooms one by one, dusting the showpieces in the living room. Rolls up her sleeves and starts cooking breakfast and tiffin for her husband and daughter. The father on the other hand, wakes up the same time, stacking his files one by one, looking at the clock every 2 minutes, eats the cooked breakfast after freshening up, and leaves for the office.
Scene 2:
"Today, father woke up really early in the morning," the daughter starts narrating to her friend while eating her half cooked tiffin, which looked like an attempt of aloo parantha but tasted like more of raw dough with mashed potatoes. "It was crazy at home today, he did the chores and mother was, in fact sleeping and helping my father."
"Is this some role reversal exercise your parents are following?" smirked her friend while curiously staring at her aloo parantha.
"No, today is Raja. The festival of Womanhood where we celebrate three days of mother Earth bleeding!"
Not many places in India where menstruation, a taboo, is celebrated with so much of happiness, love and life. Odisha, state situated in the eastern coast of India, celebrates the fertility of harvest to that of a woman, that is, menstruation every year in the month of June.
Raja Parba, pronounced as raw-jaw, Raja derives from the word Rajaswala, which means menstruating women. It is believed that during the first three days Bhudevi (Mother Earth), the wife of Lord Jagannath undergoes menstruation and is given a ceremonial bath the fourth day.
The three day long celebration consists of, first day called as Pahili Rajo, second day is Mithuna Sankranti, signifying the beginning of solar month of Mithuna i.e., the rainy season, the third day is Bhu Daaha or Basi Raja and the fourth day is called Basumati Snana.
All agricultural work is suspended during these three days of the festival. It is believed that the land goes through regeneration during this period, an act similar to the menstrual cycle of an unmarried woman, which should not be disturbed. Women and children of all household, dress up to look their best, play games like Dauli khela and eat delicious food.
It's fascinating and a breath of fresh air, to see young kids of all gender getting aware of things that most of us lack knowledge in only because it's not fairly talked about.
To more of normalizing, accepting and embracing the miracles of life. To womanhood!
by Manisha Sahoo