Bali Jatra week in Cuttack: a visitor’s guide
The great November fair on the Mahanadi bank, with notes on getting there, crowds and shopping for silver.
Silver for Raja: gifts for the June festival
Raja brings new clothes, swings and gifts for daughters. What Cuttack families buy in silver for the three days.
Raja Parba, in the middle of June, is one of the happiest festivals in coastal Odisha. For three days the earth is said to rest, girls and young women dress up, play on rope swings and eat poda pitha, and families give them gifts. Silver has always been part of it.
The most common Raja gift in our shop is a pair of payals. For girls under twelve, we suggest a light pair of 20 to 25 g with a few bells, so it does not slip or tire small ankles; these cost ₹2,500 to ₹3,200. For older girls and young women, the everyday ghungroo payal at 38 g is the usual choice. Toe rings, finger rings and small jhumkas are popular smaller gifts, from about ₹600.
Order early if you need sizing. In the ten days before Raja our karigars are adjusting dozens of payals a day, and we close sizing requests three days before the festival. Measure the ankle with a string over the ankle bone and add 1.5 cm, or bring the girl in and we will fit it at the counter.
If you are sending a gift from outside Odisha, order by the last week of May for insured delivery in time. Every piece goes out in a cotton pouch with a polishing cloth. And if the payal turns out too large, there is no need to post it back; any silversmith can shorten a chain, though we will gladly do it free when you next come to Cuttack.
