“Tor pirite aachhi re raji/ tobe koris na phankibaji” (I am ready to accept your love .But do not be half-hearted in it.)- a Tusu song
The Chhota Nagpur Plateau is a junction of three states; Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. This region is home to the Kurmis; a Hindu peasant community who celebrate festivals like Tusu, Bandna (Sohrai) and Karam, all of which are linked to the agricultural cycle. Of the three, Tusu is a harvest festival and it is celebrated throughout the month of Poush (in the Bengali Calendar), ending on the day of Makar Sankranti (mid-January in the Gregorian calendar). However, these festivals are not exclusive to Kurmis only, but shared by various other communities like the Oraon, Santhals, Munda, Baiga, Kudumi and many other tribal groups living in this region.
Tusu is a rural festival, celebrated by families engaged primarily in agriculture. Coming from Kolkata, documenting Tusu was a challenge for me because of the remoteness of the locations. The town of Bagmundi was my base from where I had to hire personal transport to reach the various villages, haats (markets) and melas (fairground). Because it is a tribal belt, language can also be a barrier. I was lucky because the locals understood my native Bengali which they speak as a lingua franca in this region. During my field work, I was really touched by the simplicity of the local people and the way they accepted me in their homes and shared their knowledge about the festival. Overall, it took me three years to document Tusu, mostly shot in Purulia district in West Bengal.
There are many stories about the possible origin of the word ‘Tusu’. Three legends connect the Tusu festival with a girl named Tusumani. In the first story, Tusumani is the daughter of a potter and got married to a prince, but her husband died suddenly. Tusumani committed Sati by jumping into her husband’s pyre on the day of Makar Sankranti. Since then, people started celebrating Tusu festival on that day. The second story says, a king married Tusumani and she died at a young age. The king became mad with grief and to recover him, villagers placed an idol of Tusumani beside him. Thus the tradition of worshipping Tusu started. In the third story, a Mughal king fell in love with Tusumani but her father did not agree to the marriage. In revenge, the king started torturing villagers and to save the poor people, Tusumani committed suicide. For her sacrifice, she is worshiped during Tusu festival.
While acknowledging the alternate theories about its etymology, in all probability Tusu is named after ‘tush’, which is husk of rice grain. This is more likely the source because Tusu is an agricultural festival and the harvesting of tush is an important marker. The last stack that remains in the field is called ‘dinimai’. The head of the family brings the dinimai from the agricultural field and on that day, young girls establish Tusu. There is no idol worship involved; instead it is the fresh harvest to which thanksgiving is offered.
Tusu festival lasts for a month, during which sweets are made at home and the doorstep is decorated with alpona made of rice flour mixed in water. Lamps are lit and prayers offered to Tusu, thanking for a good harvest. Prayers are also sung as folk songs and poems, accompanied by playing of Damsa Madol (drum). Tusu is attended daily by pre-pubescent girls only, because the young girls are symbolic of a fresh harvest. This way the fertility of women is linked with the fertility of the land. Menstruating or married women do not take part in the rituals.
As the festival reaches climax, colourful choudals are sold at haats. The choudal is a lightweight shrine, actually a metaphor of a vehicle. In design they are similar to chariots (rath) pulled during the Rath Yatra. However, unlike the rath, the choudal has no wheels, nor has it any idol placed inside. Depending on its size, the choudals are either carried by hand or supported on shoulders by a team of bearers. On the day of Makar Sankranti, the Tusu is transported on a choudal by young girls and immersed in a river or large water body. Symbolically the choudal is the vehicle by which the pre-pubescent girl leaves for her husband’s home where she will consummate her marriage and usher in new life. This journey and departure also signals the end of the harvest season and the completion of the agricultural cycle.
Post-immersion, a sacred bath is taken in the river and prayers are offered to the sun god, Surya, because Makar Sankranti marks the first day of the sun’s transit into the Makara (Capricorn) zodiac, marking end of the month with winter solstice and the start of longer days. Because they are used as places of mass congregation, the riverbanks are ideal as fair grounds where traders assemble to sell a diverse range of locally made products. This way, the Tusu festival play a key role in sustaining rural economy and continuation of craft practices. Various forms of entertainment like gambling, cockfighting and maut-ka-kuan (well-of-death) are popular events at the fairs.
This convergence of rural economy and agriculture rituals is what makes Tusu festival a fascinating experience. Modernization has had a deep impact on tribal culture and beliefs and this change is reflected in Tusu as well. Many older rituals are no longer practiced and participation is no longer restricted to pre-pubescent girls. Nowadays, observance of month-long Tusu rituals is a rarity. Memory of Tusu poetry and songs are getting replaced by commercial song and dance routines. While earlier Tusu was celebrated as a household affair, nowadays elaborate choudals are specially prepared for taking part in competitions, where the winner receives cash prize. Because of the competitions, the choudals have got bigger and brighter and they attract large crowds at the melas. Participation and winning these competitions are a matter of great prestige amongst choudal makers. Therefore, one might argue that change can also have its benefits.
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