Tusu Puja : a festival of the tea tribes of Assam.

Assam is a beautiful land with various communities, various tribes, various religions and various cultures. The tea tribes of Assam are also a very important part of huge Assamese society. Chawra, Chawtal, Munda, Kol, Kharia, Bhumij, Gonju etc are such tea tribes of Assam. They celebrate various festivals like Tusu Puja, Karam Puja, Lakhi Puja, Durga Puja etc. Among these, Karam Puja and Tusu Puja are their prime festivals.
Tusu Devi is a folk goddess of the tea tribes. Although the Hindus compare Tusu Devi with Godess Kali, Sita and Durga, yet the traditional customs and system of this puja is somewhat different from others.
According to the folk legend, Tusu was the daughter of the Kurmi king of Gujrat. The Mughal emperor of that time forced him to run away and took shelter of Punjab's king Birbal. During those days Tusu or Rukmini and Birbal's son Sitaram fall in love with each other. But, the Mughal emperor became an obstacle in their love. So, Gujrat's king ran away from there again and met the Chawtals and Bhumijs. The king of the Bhumij made the marriage of Sitaram and Tusu happen. After a few days, Sitaram died and Tusu also killed herself by jumping into the fire of his funeral. Her story is the story of love and sacrifice. The Kurmis, the Bhumijs and the Chawtals began to worship Tusu as a pure soul. With time she was worshiped like Sati Sabitri and Sita.
During Tusu Parab, sculptures make statues of Tusu and people decorate with mud and flower very beautifully. Young boys and girls carry the statue from house to house singing her story. The young girls of the community dress traditionally and tie handkerchief on their hands and dance with the rhythm of the music and instruments. Tusu is popular among the tea tribes as a favourite goddess who symbolizes kindness, virtue, love and sacrifice.