raja

Unfortunately I missed this festival while I was in Chennai, but I noticed all the swings in town and after learning about this holiday. Well, I just had to tell the story...

The festival is called Raja (or Rajo) and it only happens in the state of Orissa (where Bhubaneswar is the capital). Raja is an agricultural festival and is most popular in the coastal regions of Orissa. It signifies the beginning of the agricultural year and is sort of a celebration of the beginning of monsoon. The story is that monsoon signifies that Mother Earth is menstruating. Therefore, any agricultural work is prohibited (because you wouldn't want to dig the soil or irritate a woman on her period)!

It's also called the "Swing Festival" aptly because they erect giant swings, like the ones on children's playgrounds and people swing for 3-4 days (mainly unmarried girls).

Here's a little explanation I found on the web:
"Raja is also considered as one of the chief festivals of un-married 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. They move up and down in the swings rending the village sky with their joyous impromptu songs. "

Too bad I missed it - it would've been neat to see this festival in action...