Whispers to the Sky: Invoking the Rain God in the Hoodoom Puja of the Koch-Rajbangshis of Western Assam

Ray, S. (Dec 2025- May 2026). Whispers to the sky: Invoking the rain god in the Hoodoom Puja of Koch-Rajbangshis of Western Assam. ZEITGEIST: An Interdisciplinary Journal in Humanities and Social Sciences, 1(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20291713

Abstract

The folk life of the Koch-Rajbangshi community of
Assam serves as an archive of their inherited values, traditions, and
spiritual worldviews. Deeply grounded in agrarian practices and
nature-worship, their folk life reflects a combination of Vedic
customs and indigenous beliefs. One of the most remarkable and
culturally important rituals performed by this community is the
Hoodoom Puja, a rain-invoking occasion primarily organised and
observed by women. Imbedded in their ecological consciousness,
this ritual showcases the community’s deep spiritual relationship
with nature, particularly in times of drought when the land is dried
up and rain becomes essential for farming and survival.
The Hoodoom Puja is typically performed from mid-April to
mid-September and is observed at midnight on Tuesdays or
Saturdays in isolated agricultural fields. A focal aspect of the ritual
is the planting of the hoodoom khuti, a banana trunk cut and placed
by a woman who has given birth to only one living child. The ritual
adheres to strict norms, including fasting, the collection of
symbolic items such as spider webs, soil from a prostitute’s
doorstep, water from seven households, and ritual tools like the
nangolor juwoli. No male participation is permissible, and the
priestess and participants remain naked, symbolizing nature’s
original, uncovered form. The rain is believed to cause due to the
communion between the masculine sky (Barun, the rain god) and
the feminine earth, evoked through singing, dancing, and
invocations.
The ritual is more than a prayer for rain; it is a sacred
performance of ecological harmony, femininity, and fertility. The
Hoodoom Puja thus represents an enduring cultural expression of
the Koch-Rajbangshis’ veneration for natural forces, gendered
symbolism, and collective memory. It stands as a testament to
indigenous belief systems where nature, divinity, and community
exist in seamless unity.