Basking in the warmth of the winter sun with a cup of coffee and the morning newspaper in hand, the recently concluded celebrations of Tusu Puja across the tea gardens of Assam suddenly catch my eye. Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu – the harvest festival of Assam – is celebrated around the same time as Lohri and Makar Sankranti/Makar Sakrat in Northern and Western India, and Pongal, Suggi-Habba, and Makara Vilakku in the Southern Indian states. Traditional games such as jallikattu (bull-fighting), cock-fighting, bulbul bird fights, egg-fights, fishing competitions, elephant fairs, etc. are some of the popular modes of amusement and public entertainment that take place in different states during these festivals.

Among the different janajati communities of Northeast Bharat, Makar Sankranti is known by different names such as Maghi amongst the Bodos, Daduri amongst the Rabhas, Aran Chalong amongst the Adis of Arunachal Pradesh, Mangona amongst the Garos, etc. Referred to as the ‘holy phase of transition of the sun’, Makar Sankranti marks the end of an inauspicious phase spanning from mid-December to mid-January in Indian culture as per the Hindu calendar. The belief is that any sacred ritual such as marriage, Annaprashan ceremony of a child, etc. can be sanctified in any Hindu family from the day of Makar Sankranti onwards.

A much lesser-known yet quite popular festival that falls during this same time (mid-January) is Tusu Puja or Tusu Parab (Parab meaning festival) or Tusu Festival. It is a rustic, yet quite warm celebration of life and of a bountiful harvest season that involves the worship of Goddess Tusu. As Tusu Puja is celebrated on the day of Makar Sankranti, some scholars have opined that it is the worship of Makarbahini, i.e. Devi Ganga.

Among the Kudumis (Kurmis) who are an important agriculturist community of Eastern India (Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal), Tusu Parab begins with the Akhain Yatra. It falls every year on the first day of the month of Magh in January and continues for upto three consecutive days. The day after Makar Chaundi is known as Makar Dhaundi among the Kurmis who spend several days after Sankranti in a festive mood. Makar Sankranti is the last day of the Kudumi calendar. On the auspicious day of Makar Dhaundi, Halpunha (first ploughing ritual) is celebrated by the Kurmis. Although there is no documented history available on the festival of Tusu Puja, it has a huge repository of melodious songs full of life and zest, which reflect the innocence and simplicity of the janajatis.

It happens to be the main festival of the janajati communities residing in the Manbhum region, i.e. present-day Purulia district of West Bengal and its adjoining districts of Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura, Bardhaman, Malda, Murshidabad, and Paschim Medinipur. In Paschim Medinipur and some other areas of Bankura, Tusu Devi is worshipped as a tiny doll. It is also a popular festival in the Sundarbans, where Tusu is worshipped as Goddess Lakshmi.

Tusu Puja is a Hindu religious festival celebrated in honour of Tusu Devi (Goddess of agriculture) who is believed to be the epitome of Sakti. In Assam, Tusu Puja coincides with Magh Bihu and is celebrated with much grandeur and fanfare among the socio-economically marginalised janajati communities of the tea-garden areas. The very name Tusu has been derived from the Bengali word tush, denoting the outer coating of paddy more popularly known as rice bran. It is a derivative from the Sanskrit root Usha or Osha. The celebrations begin from the first day of the month of Poush in the biting winter cold of December-January (according to the Gregorian calendar) after the harvest of the Amon paddy crop (the winter crop). They continue for almost a month till the last day of Poush, i.e. Paus Sankranti or Makar Sankranti.

The young, unmarried girls of the village make beautiful murtis of Tusu Devi which are worshipped on the day of the Parab. Tusu Devi is visualised as a chaste, young virgin girl and a cosmic Goddess whose images are drawn on pitchers in the alpana style of painting (sacred art of colourful motifs done with hand and by using a paste of rice and flour). A get-together is organised in the house of a selected person where the girls gather to sing at least one song every night before retiring to sleep. This process continues for 29 days. On the 30^th day, women exchange garlands and fry eight varieties of pulses which are given as an offering to Tusu Devi, along with a plate of locally-grown rice.

Like Ma Durga, Tusu is also worshipped as a mother, daughter, friend, and confidante to whom the village women can pour their hearts out. In the morning before sunrise, they go to a nearby pond or river to take a ceremonial bath before the commencement of the religious ceremonies. The unmarried girls sing songs and perform various group dances in front of the deity in the evening, seeking her blessings to fulfil their desire for a loving husband. Boys sing to tease the young girls and the girls compete to outsmart each other. Dancing also serves as a means of strengthening their social and community bonds on this auspicious occasion. Tusu Parab is a festival of socio-religious significance that celebrates femininity and womanhood, acting as a medium of devotional and spiritual expression for both young girls and married women.

A folk cultural tradition of Rarh Bengal, Tusu Puja offers a great opportunity to renew inter-community ties, irrespective of age and gender. It is a truly public festival in this part of Bengal as people from different janajati communities such as Munda, Kora, Toda, Mahato, Lodha, Santhal, etc. participate in it with equal enthusiasm. Since the characteristic feature of this terrain is its lateritic soil, known as Ranga-mati or Lal-mati in the local nomenclature, the word Rarh is believed to have originated from the ancient Austric language meaning ‘A Land of Red Soil’ (Banga Darpan, March 14, 2010). Tusu Puja is a post-harvest religious-cum-cultural festival, very similar to Nabanna (literally meaning, ‘new rice’ or Natun Dhan) celebrated in other parts of Bengal in the month of Agrahayana (November-December). It is marked by streaks of regional variations in different cultural scenarios across Central India and Eastern and North-Eastern India where it is largely celebrated.

E.g. the Sabar janajati of Sarasbedia village under Raipur block in the westernmost district of Bankura, West Bengal, observes Tusu Puja with a great pomp and show in their own distinctive and traditional way. Tusu is popularly referred to as Toshala Devi in Bankura. For the Sabars, Tusu symbolises a belle from their own society or she may be a princess (Rajkanna) who is worshipped in many different forms. An imaginary mother (Tusuni) is being appointed from the community of their belles who is supposed to act as the mother of Tusu during the days of the festival, and especially when the religious ceremonies are conducted. She has to play an important role in the religious rituals, right from carrying the idol of Goddess Tusu from the market over her head, fetching river water in the holy pitcher (ghot) for Tusu Devi to taking a lead in the song and dance performances.

The religious rituals of worshipping the Goddess are not officiated by any priest who is formally appointed for the purpose. Instead, it is the religiously-ordained responsibility of the appointed mother of Tusu Devi or Tusuni; herein lies the basic essence of an age-old tradition in which people directly approach the Divine, without the intervention of anyone else. Special murtis of Tusumoni (the word moni is widely used as a suffix for the name of a girl child in the region of Rarh Bengal, e.g. Raimoni, Birmoni, Joimoni, etc.) are prepared on the occasion of Tusu Puja and draped in vibrant colours. Dance, folk music, and gur pitha (a kind of sweet cutlet) are integral parts of this festival. The origins of Tusu Puja have been traced on the basis of three different stories prevalent in the region.

First, a prince marries a beautiful young maiden of the region named Tusumoni who was the daughter of a poor potter. However, the prince died at a very early age leaving Tusumoni in the lurch. Out of deep sorrow, Tusumoni decided to end her life by self-immolating herself in the funeral pyre of her dead husband. It is since then that the local people of the area have been commemorating this sad incident by observing Tusu Parab in the memory of Tusumoni.

Another story goes so that a king passionately wanted to marry an extremely beautiful and attractive village girl named Tushmuni (Tusu). But the king could not marry her due to her untimely demise at a very young age. The king subsequently lost his mental balance as a result of the deep pain and agony suffered by him as a result of this unfortunate incident. In order to console the grieving king, the villagers made a statue of Tushmuni and kept it near the king’s palace. The tradition has been kept alive by the local people of this region, and the murti of Tushmuni is made every year since then as a mark of the grand celebrations of Tusu Parab.

The third story narrates the tale of a Mughal king who wanted to marry a potter’s daughter named Tusumoni after being enamoured by her beauty. Her father was a rich Kurmi landlord who disapproved of the marriage on the ground that the king was a mlecchha (foreigner). Thereafter, the king started physical abuse and torture of the poor, innocent villagers. Tusumoni’s father fixed her marriage with another groom but the Mughal king killed her fiancée too, and tortured his family members. Angered by the defiance of the landlord, he then tried to kidnap Tusumoni. She was later rescued with the assistance of the soldiers of the then Nawab of Bengal. But unable to bear the embarrassment, Tusumoni ultimately decided to end her life by plunging into the deep waters of the river Damodar that is today known as Satighat among the Kudumis.

The belief is that it was on the day of Makar Sankranti that Tusumoni committed suicide. The female members of the society felt utterly desolate and helpless after this painful incident. Since then, Tusu came to be worshipped as a Goddess by the followers of the landlord for her supreme sacrifice. It gradually became a tradition in the form of Tusu Puja which is clearly evident from the Tusu Geets prevailing in the region. Here, the story of Tusu is related to the beauty of Rani Padmini of Chittor who embraced jauhar to save her faith and identity from the wrath of Sultan Alauddin Khilji. This story also gives us an idea of the blood-thirsty Islamic invasions which attacked the life and culture of the natives, and the resistance of the latter to not accept a foreign religion at any cost. But whatever may have been the story, Tusumoni has acquired the status of a legend in the region of Rarh Bengal.

Although there exist some variations in the names, places and characters of the stories, but the common element in each of them is the suicide committed by a beautiful girl called Tusu, in order to protect her purity and chastity. It was her self-sacrifice which eventually came to be celebrated as a symbol of self-restraint and thus took the shape of a festival.

Two different types of murtis of Tusu Devi, one made of clay and another of sola (sponge wood), are popular in the regions of Rarh Bengal and Manbhum where the festival is celebrated. Generally, the murti wears a tin-foil crown of coloured papers on its head and golden ornaments made of glass paper in its hands and neck. It is draped in a red-blue colour paper saree. The clay murtis are prepared by first burning them in the fire and then painting them in a variety of colours. The sola Tusu murti is prepared with sola, along with tush, entel mati (sticky clay), and laherkhara (dried stem of Arhar pulses). The basement of the sola murti is called Pira and it symbolises the feet of Tusu Devi. It is always ensured that the Pira is made from a mixture of entel mati and tush, which is then sun-dried. Laherkhara and stems of the bamboo plant are also being made use of nowadays in place of sola, considering the risks associated with the collection of sola from forests where it is found.

Once the structure of the murti is ready, it is coloured in a palette of different shades. After the successful application of colours, the next phase is the decoration and beautification of the murti with paper-made ornaments and flowers which are made from glossy colourful papers called barnish kaghoj. The murtis reach a height of even 10 feet at times. Hard cardboard papers (locally known as chala) are used for adorning the back of the murti, whereas light-weight colourful papers (locally known as holkaghoj) are used to garland the body of the murti in a circular or spiral arrangement of the intertwined papers.

The festivities commence from the morning of the next day. It begins with the pran-pratishtha of the murti of Tusu Devi in individual homes which are freshly painted on the eve of the festival. The floors of the entrances to the houses are decorated with colourful ritual drawings of rice-powder mixed in water (alpona), which are sometimes done around a little elevated platform neatly smeared with cow-dung and mud paste. This is meant to be the seat of the deity. The main doors of the houses are painted and sometimes, a bunch of paddy is hanged to symbolise the homecoming of Tusu Devi. New earthen pots are purchased on the eve of the festival. In many households, the pran-pratishtha takes place in the afternoon when the female members, after finishing their household chores, go out together in a procession to purchase the murti from the nearby marketplace amidst a great show of gaiety and splendour.

All the women of the village adorn themselves in colourful new clothes and participate in this procession singing various local songs in an enthusiastic praise of Tusu Devi. Widows are not allowed to participate in these religious obligations.

The main religious rituals of Tusu Puja are held in the evening. Earlier, seven lamps were lighted with tush and decorated with flowers in a clay pot. Nowadays, four earthen vessels (sara) filled with sand, flowers, and tush are placed in front of the murti. The Tusuni offers food (prasad) to the Devi comprising of peas, nakuldana (sweetmeats prepared from sugar and flour), and flattened rice mixed with molasses and curd. The womenfolk of the entire family gather around and customarily sing songs in glorification of the virtues of Tusu Devi seeking her blessings. These songs are popularly known as jagoroni (awakening) geet. They have their meals only after the due completion of the religious ceremonies. In the afternoon of the next day, i.e. on the day of Sankranti, Tusu is accorded a ceremonial send-off which is called bhasan. It refers to the immersion of the murti of Goddess Tusu in the river waters through a celebratory procession.

The unmarried girls gather together at the place of Tusu Bhasani Mela (the place where the immersion takes place) where they sing different Tusu Geets and dance with merriment. This also gives a good chance to unmarried youngsters to look for their bride/groom. The young girls drape themselves in a white saree with a red border, neat hairdo decorated with flowers and feathers, and take part in the dancing festivities. Older women accompany them by singing songs. An oblation of fresh flowers and fruits together with flattened rice mixed with jaggery is offered to Tusu Devi by the Tusuni on the banks of the river before her immersion. River water is sprinkled over the murtis as a gesture of sanctity and reverence, after which they are finally immersed. They later feast on a meal of rice, fish curry and crabs believing that this would usher in a new lease of life.

In the Dharmic philosophy, there is a spiritual significance behind the act of immersion of murtis after any religious event. It conveys the message that there is an end to everything in this mortal world, and humans too, would have to meet the same fate someday or the other when their bodies will be burnt into ashes to be unified with the Pancha-Bhoota.

At the end of the bhasan, the Tusuni takes a holy dip into the river and the procession returns to the village amid a loud fiesta of dancing and singing. She distributes prasad to each and everyone who are assembled at the place to take part in the immersion ceremony. Various traditional sweet-dishes like Pita and Puli (a form of pancake) are enjoyed by the people on the occasion. Roti-pitha, gud-pitha, mudhi lai, and tilkut are all-time favourites. In many places, there is a tradition of feeding crows with rice on the last day of Tusu Puja.

Image Source: Hello Travel