The Kojagari Lakshmi Puja is traditionally a festival of the mothers and grandmothers of the household. They fast all day, preparing offerings for the Goddess — sweets made of jaggery, such as narus and takti, and moya made of puffed rice. The celebration is marked not by grandeur, but by sincerity, simplicity, and a deep connection to rural Bengal’s roots.
An inseparable part of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja is the alpana
(ritual floor art). From noon onwards, women draw intricate designs using a
paste made of uncooked rice powder (atop chal). On the clean floors and
courtyards appear images of Lakshmi’s owl, paddy sheaves, conch shells,
lotuses, and the Goddess’s footprints. In households with roots in East Bengal,
fish motifs are also common in the alpana. The drawing of Lakshmi’s footprints
is a custom seen everywhere — the footprints drawn by the women and daughters
of the house are considered an essential part of the Kojagari Puja. Even today,
in the age of ready-made sticker alpanas, the traditional drawn footprints of
Lakshmi remain just as popular.
Flattened rice (chire) is one of the main offerings (naibedya) to Goddess Lakshmi. It is said that on the full moon night of Ashwin, the Goddess roams the earth to see who remains awake. To those who stay awake, she grants wealth and prosperity.
A verse says:
"Narikeleish chipitakaiah pitṛn devān samarchayet, bandhūnś ca prīṇayet
tena svayaṁ tadanano bhavet."
Meaning: After worshipping the Goddess with devotion, one should offer coconut
and flattened rice to ancestors and deities, share it with friends, and eat
some oneself.
Historian Niharranjan Ray wrote that on the night of Kojagari
Purnima, families and friends would gather to eat various sweets made from chire
and coconut, staying awake all night playing dice — so that the Goddess might
bless them with good fortune.
In some parts of Pabna, the word “Kojagar” was used to
describe flattened rice soaked in coconut water — a local term, likely
originating from the Kojagiri Purnima offering itself. Even today, it is
customary to offer a bowl of chire soaked in coconut water to the Goddess on
this night.
The tuni flower (also called nal-tuni) is a true flower of
autumn. It grows naturally in villages — by ponds, streams, and marshy areas —
with its white, scentless blossoms hidden among the leaves. It is said to be
the favorite flower of Goddess Lakshmi, and her worship on the full moon of autumn
is considered incomplete without tuni flowers.
Lakshmi’s favorite fruit is the water chestnut (paniphal),
which grows in ponds and marshes. When the blue autumn sky floats with soft
white clouds, water chestnuts begin to grow in the water. From the time of
Durga Puja until around the month of Poush, the fruit is available — and it is
a must-offering to Goddess Lakshmi during Kojagari Puja.
Bengalis enjoy the palmyra (Asian fan palm) fruit in three
seasons: the soft jelly-like pulp (talshash) in summer, various palm-based
sweets during the monsoon, and delicacies like tal kheer, tal bara, tal pitha,
and tal luchi around Janmashtami — which would be incomplete without it. In
Ashwin, tal fhopra (sprouted palm kernel) is eaten.
In villages, during the monsoon, rows of pale palm seeds can
be seen drying. They are kept on the ground until autumn, when they become fit
to be offered to the Goddess. When rainwater moistens the seeds, they begin to
sprout. Before the sprout enters the soil, the seed is collected. When cut open
during Ashwin or Kartik, a white, coconut-like kernel is found inside — that is
the tal fhopra. Offering tal fhopra to Goddess Lakshmi during Kojagari Puja is
a long-standing tradition.
Lakshmi is easily pleased. The Kojagari night worship follows mainly the customs of eastern Bengal — simple household offerings made from the produce of fields and homes. Through these humble yet heartfelt rituals, devotees earn the Goddess’s grace. These accessible, sincere offerings, passed down from mothers and grandmothers, make Kojagari Lakshmi Puja a truly cherished festival of devotion and simplicity.