The Revellers Of Tush Festival

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The Tushu festival of Bengal is a joyous harvest festival. As the month of Poush (Bengali calendar) draws to a close and ripe crops of rice (‘tush’ is the local word for rice bran) glisten in the tropical sun, the rural people of parts of Bengal gather for celebration. There is singing and dancing and poojana of the auspicious first reap of rice, which has been depicted in ample detail in the folk painting on this page. It is a motley of revellers and instruments, even a bride who is headed to her husband’s home in the midst of the festival.

The tribespeople are dressed in dhotis and sarees, spun purposely to be worn for the Tushu festival. The colour palette is basic yet vibrant - pastels such as blue and orange and crimson and yellow, set off by the white of the handmade shell ornaments of the men and women. The women dance with abandon as their men beat the dhak, life-sized drums the staple of Bengali festivals. Note the brightly coloured palanquin at the centre of the painting on the top - a young dusky beauty sits therein, weeping her eyes out.