Itu Puja is the principal folk observance of the Bengali month of Agrahayana, celebrated as a month-long vrata that beautifully weaves together the worship of the Sun god Mitra, the blessings of Maa Lakshmi, and Bengal’s agrarian rhythm. Often called Itu Brata or Itulakshmi Puja, it is primarily led by women in households and neighborhoods, who pray for prosperity, healthy children, good harvests, and overall well-being.
Observed from the last day of Kartik right through all Sundays of Agrahayana, Itu Puja marks a spiritual bridge between the end of the monsoon cycle and the arrival of new winter crops. Sunday is chosen as the sacred day because of its association with Surya or Mitra—the Vedic Sun deity—whose life-giving light ensures fertility of both land and family. Over time, this Vedic Mitra worship merged with rural Lakshmi traditions, and Itu began to be seen as a form of Lakshmi or a grain goddess who dwells in seeds, sprouts, and new rice.
Central to the festival is the Itu ghat or earthen pot, representing the womb of the earth. On the starting day of the vrata, women prepare a small clay pot or bowl filled with earth mixed with cow dung as natural fertilizer and place it alongside other household deities. Into this sanctified soil they sow selected grains—often five types of cereals and five types of pulses—symbolizing the “Sun’s crop” (ravisasya) that will sprout under Mitra’s warmth. This vessel is worshipped every Sunday of Agrahayana with water, flowers, lamps, and mantras, and slowly the seeds germinate into tender green shoots, mirroring the family’s hopes for abundance and renewal.
The vrata is deeply disciplined. The woman observing Itu Puja follows a strict vegetarian regimen on each Sunday, avoiding oil, turmeric, and fried or burnt foods. A typical pattern is: fruits and sweets offered to Itu in the morning, simple boiled rice and vegetables at midday, and light breads or flour-based dishes at night—always prepared without non-vegetarian ingredients. This personal austerity, combined with devotion, is believed to invite blessings of health, prosperity, and protection from misfortune, including cures for eye ailments associated with the Sun god.
One of the most touching aspects of Itu Puja is its continuity across generations. Once a woman undertakes this vrata, she traditionally continues it for life, only stepping back when she ceremonially hands it over to her daughter or daughter‑in‑law. In many families, Itu songs and stories (Itu Brata Katha) are recited, recounting how Mitra–Lakshmi brings wealth to the poor, children to the childless, and shelter to the vulnerable—reinforcing Itu’s identity as both Sun god and grain goddess. The offerings, called Itur sādh, often include milk-based sweets, seasonal fruits, new jaggery, popped rice and pithas prepared from the first new rice of the season, underlining the festival’s intimate tie to Nabanna (new harvest) celebrations.
Agrahayana Sankranti, the last day of the month, marks the culmination of the vrata. On this day, women bathe at sunrise, dress in fresh clothes, and decorate the Itu pot and accompanying soro (painted clay disc) with red and white designs, marigold and hibiscus garlands, and auspicious items such as durba grass, bel leaves, sindoor, fruits, and new rice preparations. After a final round of worship, lamps are waved (niranjan), the goddess is symbolically “seen off” with betel and areca nut, and the Itu pot is carried to a pond or river and immersed, returning the blessed soil and sprouts to nature. Only after this immersion do the observers break their day-long fast, usually with payesh or other prasad, closing the vrata in a mood of quiet joy and gratitude.
Today, Itu Puja continues in many rural and semi-urban homes across Bengal, even as urbanization has made some of its practices rare. Where it survives, Itu Puja remains a gentle yet powerful reminder that prosperity is born from harmony with the Sun, the soil, and the rhythms of agricultural life. By honoring Mitra as Itu and recognizing this folk deity as a facet of Lakshmi or a grain goddess, Bengal’s women keep alive an ancient ecological wisdom: that light, seeds, and loving care together sustain both crops and families.
