Odisha govt relaxes night curfew ahead of Raja festival

The night curfew imposed by the Odisha government will be relaxed for a few hours on Friday to let people go shopping for the upcoming three-day Raja festival, an official said here on Thursday.

The Raja festival, which will begin on Sunday, celebrates womanhood amid the onset of the monsoon. It is based on the belief that 'Mother Earth' menstruates for these three days and she is given a ceremonial bath on the fourth day. It is celebrated in the coastal and the tribal regions of the state.

On Thursday, the state government, in a partial modification of its June 1 order, announced that the night curfew on June 12 will be enforced from 10 pm instead of 7 pm in order to enable people to do their pre-festival shopping.

In its June 1 order, the government imposed a curfew from 7 pm to 5 am till June 30, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. This apart, the government also introduced weekend shutdown in 11 districts.

However, all other conditions of the June 1 order and subsequent amendments remain unchanged, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said in the notification issued by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner. Meanwhile, the district administrations of Khurda and Keonjhar imposed prohibitory orders in certain places to prevent congregation during the festival.

The Khurda administration has imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 around the temples of Goddess Barunei near Khurda town and Ugratara in Tangi from June 14 to June 20, an official notification said. The restrictions were imposed keeping in view the gathering of a large number of people at these shrines during the Raja festival.

The Keonjhar district administration also banned any type of congregation during the festival. Any gathering for celebrations like Raja Doli (swing), 'mela' (congregation), 'mahotsav' (festival), and feast and traditional games related to the Raja festival is strictly prohibited from June 11-16, an official order said.

Any violation will lead to strict action under the Epidemics Act and the Disaster Management Act, it said. Odisha has so far reported 3,386 COVID-19 cases.