The Living Harvest: How Bengali Bangals Connect Durga Puja with Kartik Sankranti Through Sacred Agriculture
The Unique Bangal Custom
Among the various regional practices that enrich Bengali Hindu tradition, the Bangals—people originally from East Bengal, particularly the Faridpur region—observe a distinctive ritual that uniquely bridges Durga Puja's conclusion with the subsequent month-long observance culminating in Kartik Sankranti. This practice transforms the spiritual energy of Durga Puja into a living, growing manifestation that extends far beyond Vijaya Dashami.
On Dashami, while most Bengali households bid farewell to Goddess Durga with tears and immersion rituals, Bangal families initiate a sacred agricultural practice. They take the Lakshmi sara—the earthen platter that held Goddess Lakshmi during the previous year's puja (Kojagari)—and sow paddy seeds in its sanctified soil. This act is profoundly symbolic: the platter that once held the goddess of prosperity now becomes the nurturing ground for actual sustenance.
The Month-Long Observance
Throughout the month of Kartik, considered highly auspicious in the Hindu calendar, these seeds receive daily care and water. The sprouting seedlings represent the continuous presence of divine blessing in daily life. This practice embodies the Vedic principle that worship should not be confined to festival days but must permeate every aspect of existence. The Bhagavad Gita teaches, "Aham vaishvanaro bhutva praninam deham asritah" (15.14), suggesting the divine presence sustains all life forms, much as these sacred seeds are sustained through devotional care.
Kartik Puja: The Grand Culmination
On Kartik Sankranti, the final day of the Kartik month, the ritual reaches its crescendo. Five ghats—sacred earthen pots—are carefully arranged on the platter now abundant with green shoots. These pots are filled with atapa rice, the sun-dried rice that carries solar energy and represents the harvest's culmination. Local dried nuts crown each pot, symbolizing the earth's diverse bounty. A gamchha, the traditional thin cotton towel that represents simplicity and purity in Bengali culture, covers the arrangement before the worship begins.
The Divinity of Kartik
Kartik, also known as Kartikeya or Skanda in Hindu scriptures, holds a special position in agricultural communities. As the son of Shiva and Parvati (or in some accounts, born from Shiva's seed), Kartik embodies divine martial strength and protective power. The Skanda Purana, one of the major Puranas, extensively describes his glory and protective nature. In Bengali tradition, particularly, Kartik is revered as the deity who safeguards crops and ensures agricultural prosperity.
Symbolism of Fertility and Harvest
The association between Kartik and fertility extends beyond agriculture to encompass all forms of creative growth and abundance. The metaphor is beautifully simple yet profound: just as children are nurtured, protected, and brought to fruition by their parents, so too are crops tended from seed to harvest. This parallel explains why Kartik is simultaneously worshipped as the protector of harvests and the bestower of children.
The five pots placed during the final worship represent the Panchamahabhuta—the five great elements (earth, water, fire, air, and ether) that constitute all creation. By acknowledging these elements in the ritual, devotees recognize that agricultural success depends not merely on human effort but on the harmonious cooperation of cosmic forces.
Agricultural Spirituality in Bengali Culture
This Bangal tradition reflects a deeper Hindu understanding that spirituality and sustenance are inseparable. The Taittiriya Upanishad declares, "Annam Brahma"—food is Brahman, the ultimate reality. This profound statement elevates agriculture and food production to spiritual practice. When Bangal families sow seeds in the Lakshmi sara, they acknowledge that material prosperity (Lakshmi) and life-sustaining crops emerge from the same divine source.
The practice also demonstrates the cyclical nature of Hindu observances. Last year's Lakshmi platter becomes this year's seed bed, which will eventually provide the grain for next year's offerings. This continuity mirrors the eternal cycle of birth, death, and rebirth central to Hindu philosophy—the concept of samsara that governs all existence.
Contemporary Relevance
In our modern era of industrial agriculture and urban disconnection from farming, this ritual serves as a powerful reminder of humanity's dependence on natural cycles and divine grace. The month-long daily watering becomes a meditation on patience, care, and the gradual unfolding of divine plans. Unlike instant gratification, this practice teaches that true abundance requires sustained devotion and attention.
The ritual also preserves ancient agricultural wisdom within religious practice. By maintaining these traditions, Bengali communities keep alive the knowledge that spirituality must be grounded in the earth's realities, that the goddess's blessings manifest through grain and harvest, and that festivals are not isolated events but interconnected moments in an eternal divine rhythm.