KARAM PUJA: Know All About this Harvest Festival of India

Bongaigaon Times: 05/09/2022 : KARAM PUJA: There are several lesser-known harvest festivals which are celebrated by various tribes, regions and culture across India, and Karam Puja is one of them.

Karam puja is a harvest festival celebrated by the tribal communities in Indian state of Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. It is a festival that celebrates the glory of Mother Nature.

It is dedicated to the worship of Kama-devta, the god of power, youth and youthfulness. The festival held on the 11th day of full moon according to the Hindu believes in the month of Bhadra.

THE KARAM PUJA RITUAL:

In this festival devotees go to jungle accompanied by groups of drummers and cut one or more branches of the Karam Tree after worshiping it. The branches are usually carried by unmarried, young girls who sing in praise of the deity.

After that the branch of the tree bring back to the village and it is placed in the center of the ground which is plastered with cow-dung and decorated with flowers. The village priest offers germinated grains and liquor in the propitiation to the deity who grants wealth and children, and then the village priest recites the effectiveness of Karam puja. The next day the Karam branch immersed in the river.

People believe that they are blessed by the deity. They sing and dance while performing the rituals, the festival is celebrated to remind the role of Karam tree in the creation of the World.

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Deborika Bhattacharjee,

Content Writer,

BONGAIGAON TIMES