Interviewtimes 
Raja, a three-day long festival which is celebrated with great pomp and joy across the state, has faded its charm this year following Covid-19 pandemic. Keeping in view of the prevailing situation, people were asked to stay indoors and celebrate the festival inside their houses.
Similarly, Dhenkanal town and the district witness a low-key celebration of Raja festival too. Due to the lockdown, shops and other business establishments were closed in the town, police force is deployed at different chowks to ensure the lockdown norms are followed.
This year the festival remained confined to household indoor celebrations only, group celebrations and gatherings were prohibited owing to raging Covid-19 pandemic’s second wave in the country as well as in the state.
Image Courtesy : Divya Sai Behera
“We are celebrating the festival inside our home with only our family members, we have attached a swing inside the house, we are hopeful that next year we will able celebrate the festival in a grand way like we do in previous years,” said Pratikshya Sahoo, a native of Dhenkanal town.
Raja is one of the important festival of odisha and this festival is related to womanhood and mensuration. Girls wear new clothes, eat different varieties of pithas, decorate themselves and play swings and different indoor and outdoor games.
