Basanti Puja: Durga Puja in spring

Basanti Puja is the worship of the goddess Durga in spring, during the bright fortnight (shukla paksha) of the month of Chaitra, which usually falls in March or April. The name comes from basanta, spring. In Puranic tradition, spring is the original and "proper" season for Durga's worship; the great autumn festival that most people know as Durga Puja is, in Bengali telling, an out-of-season invocation first made by Rama. Basanti Puja is far quieter than its autumn counterpart and is kept today mainly by some families, temples and institutions. Its dates change every year, so check your local panjika.

Two seasons, one goddess

The Hindu year has two great seasons of goddess worship, spring and autumn, each with its own Navaratri (nine nights). In Bengal they are known as:

Bengali tradition calls the autumn worship akal bodhon, "untimely awakening", because, in the account popularised in Bengali retellings of the Ramayana such as Krittibas's, Rama woke the goddess outside her season to seek her blessing before the battle with Ravana. Since the gods were believed to sleep during this half of the year, the goddess had to be specially awakened. Spring worship needed no such awakening.

King Suratha and the merchant Samadhi

The Devi Mahatmya, the text at the heart of Durga worship and part of the Markandeya Purana, is told within a frame story. King Suratha, defeated by enemies and betrayed by his own ministers, loses his kingdom and wanders into a forest. There he meets Samadhi, a merchant who has been cast out by his greedy wife and sons. Both are puzzled: though wronged, they cannot stop worrying about the kingdom and family that rejected them.

They seek out the sage Medhas, who explains that this attachment is the work of Mahamaya, the goddess's power of illusion, and then tells them the three great stories of the goddess: the slaying of Madhu and Kaitabha, the defeat of Mahishasura, and the destruction of Shumbha and Nishumbha. Moved, the king and the merchant worship the goddess with devotion. Pleased, she grants each a boon: Suratha will regain his kingdom and in a future life become a Manu, and Samadhi receives the spiritual knowledge that frees him from attachment.

In Bengali tradition, Suratha's worship is regarded as the first Durga Puja, and it is placed in spring. That is why Basanti Puja is often described as the "original" Durga Puja. This is a sacred and traditional account rather than a historical record, and different texts and teachers tell it in slightly different ways.

How Basanti Puja is observed today

Where it is held, Basanti Puja follows the same broad pattern as the autumn puja: the goddess is installed and invoked around Shashthi, worshipped through Saptami, Ashtami and Navami, and bid farewell on Dashami. The image is often the familiar one of Durga slaying Mahishasura, with Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesha and Kartik, though families keep their own forms.

You are most likely to find Basanti Puja:

• in some old family homes, including a number of bonedi bari (old aristocratic) households, which have held it for generations;
• in temples and at religious and monastic institutions;
• in some neighbourhoods and villages with a long-standing local tradition.

Because the scale is small, it has none of the pandal-hopping crowds of autumn. If you are invited to one, it is an opportunity to see the rites closely, without the noise of the festival season. Dress modestly, follow the family's lead, and ask before photographing.

Also readBengal's festival season

The Chaitra Navratri link

Basanti Puja coincides with Chaitra Navratri, the spring Navaratri observed across much of India, which ends with Rama Navami, the birthday of Rama, on the ninth day. In northern and western India, Chaitra Navratri is marked with fasting and worship of the nine forms of Durga, much as in the autumn. For the autumn festival elsewhere in India, see our Navratri section.

Annapurna Puja

In the same Chaitra fortnight, many Bengali households and temples worship Annapurna, "she who is full of food", a form of Parvati who feeds the world. Annapurna Puja is traditionally held on Shukla Ashtami of Chaitra. Bengali tradition and art often show Shiva as a mendicant receiving alms from Annapurna, a reminder that nourishment is a divine gift. Rice, sweets and cooked bhog are central to her worship.

Related reading

For the autumn festival's origins see akal bodhon and the history of Durga Puja. The festival season hub shows how the autumn festivals follow one another, and the glossary explains the ritual terms.