Karam Puja: The Festival the Tea Gardens Shut Down For

Since 2022 the Assam government has given every tea garden and factory in the state a paid holiday for Karam Puja, a harvest festival most drinkers of the cup have never heard of. Here is what it certifies, who keeps it, and why the state finally put it on the calendar.

Tusu, the Winter Goddess Assam Already Made Room For

Karam Puja needed a special government order before a tea garden could close for it. Tusu Puja, the same communities' January goddess, has ridden beside Bihu on the state's own gazetted calendar the whole time, and most drinkers of the cup have never heard of either.