India, June 14 -- It is that time of the year again when Odia households bustle with preparations for a festival called 'Raja' that celebrates womanhood. This event marks the period of fertility regeneration of the earth, equivalent to the menstrual cycle that women undergo.

Raja is shorthand for the word Rajaswala (meaning a menstruating woman) and is celebrated across Odisha and Odias living outside. It signifies the menstrual cycle of the earth, similar to that of a woman. Just like women go into a resting phase during "periods", the earth is considered to be in a latent stage. This resting period of the earth is when all agricultural activities are forbidden.

It is an event of women, for women, in celebration of womanhood. The faire...