Bhubaneswar: The state owned Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) has made a grand arrangement to celebrate Raja festival, an important agrarian festival observed by Hindus in rural pockets of the state in eight of its Panthanivases this year.
Tourism secretary Vishal Dev said the event will be celebrated for four days starting from today till June 16 next at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Chandipur, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Barkul, Gopalpur and Paradip.
This year, he said the festival will not be celebrated in Puri and Konark as these places were badly affected by the cyclonic storm FANI.
He said the main objective of celebrating the festival is to promote the tradition and culture of Odisha and Odisha cuisine.
Dev said, OTDC which has been celebrating the festival since 2011 has made an humble attempt this year to provide rural ambience and aroma to the local residents and tourists by erecting swings and serving traditional delicacies like Poda pitha, Manda Pitha, Arisa, Kakara, Chakuli pitha, Ghughuni, Muga bundi, Dahibada, Chhena Poda with Raja Pan in all the eight Panthanivas spread over the state.
The Western Odisha special cakes like Khuda Manda, Kadamba, Muga Papchi will be served at the Sambalpur Panthanivas.
The Bhubaneswar Panthanivas will provide tribal cake made of Mandia and Mahula to promote tribal tradition and culture among the tourists.
Dev added that the Panthanivases sold pithas worth more than Rs 11.28 lakh last year during the Raja festival.
He said the pitha sale by Panthanivases during the Raja festival in 2012 was Rs 1,78,197 and it rose to Rs 11,28,639 in 2018.
The secretary said the festival has got good response from the people and hoped that it would make good business this year also.
(UNI)