Neel Shoshthi; Light a light

Chaitro is the time when the Shiv Bhakts get ready for another round of Shiv Puja, known as Neel Shoshti.

Its Neel Shoshthi today!

Performed by married women and mothers, this Pujo is an offering to Lord Shiva, for the long life and well-being of their husband and children. This day is supposed to celebrate the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, which very few of the devotees are aware of. 

Neel stands for the colour blue, as Shiva’s throat had turned blue due to the intake of poison, while Shoshthi is the sixth day in the lunar calendar. Shoshthi also denotes Ma Shosthi, the Goddess of fertility. She is supposed to be the protector of every child. Known to be an ill-tempered Goddess, she gets angry if she is not worshipped with proper care and devotion. 

For every child born into this world, there is a Pujo on the sixth day of the child’s life known as Shoshthi Pujo. In the earlier days, the infant mortality rate was very high and very few infants survived. Many women died while giving birth to a child. Hence the sixth day of the child’s life proved to be an important milestone. The mother had to wear new clothes and sit with the child in her lap. Then began, the veneration of the Goddess. Completion of a month, would be the next milestone for the newborn and another Pujo would be organized. 

Ma Shoshthi is still worshipped throughout West Bengal for the well-being of one’s children. In my family, I have always seen my grandmother and mother praying to her when we fell sick. Any illness, and they would run to the ‘shoshti tola’ (an erected platform under the shade of a banyan tree where the Goddess is worshipped by all) to offer their prayers.

This is how we light a lamp in Assam, diyas mounted on bamboo sticks

This brings to my mind the story of my mother’s aunt. She passed away at the age of thirteen, after a bout of typhoid. During her illness, the women would stay up the whole night praying and trying their best to please the Goddess. They believed that the Goddess was angry and she had to be pacified. The women would beat their chest and cry out to her for mercy. They would promise all kinds of offerings. This went on for a few days and she started improving. Weary, they fell asleep one night. The next morning, they woke up with the sun, to find the young lady cold and long gone.

Every household has such a tale of Ma Shosthi. Besides Ma Manasha, she is the most feared and also the most loved Goddess amongst the Bengalis. 

Coming back to Neel Shoshthi, this is the day when women fast throughout the day and then, as per the Tithi mentioned in the Ponjika, visit the temple nearby with their offerings. The Pujo is similar to the way we do Shivratri, except for the lights that we light that day.

It’s customary to a light a candle/diya for every person they are praying for. If a woman has three children, she will light a candle for each of them and a fourth for her husband. Earlier, women lit only for their male child, but things have changed and women today light a light for all their offspring. So, this is a ‘vrat’ meant to be observed by the married women and mothers only.

My grandmother had her own rituals for Neel Shoshthi. She said that we should light a light for all those we care for. A ‘baati’ (light) for all we love has always been the motto for us. So I light a light for all the people I care for. 

Here's wishing everyone a very happy Neel Shoshthi. Light a light for all you care and 'keep it burning till the end of day'!