🌳 Karma / Karam Parv (Karma Ekadashi) 2026
Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi — the brother-sister and harvest festival of the tribal and rural communities of Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh-Odisha-Bihar-Bengal; sisters fast for the brother, growing the jawa (sprouts), worship of the Karam branch, night-long Karma dance and song; the tale of the brothers Dharma and Karma.
The Karma (Karam) festival is celebrated on the Ekadashi of the Shukla Paksha of Bhadrapada month — a week after Ganesh Chaturthi, before Jitiya. It is the festival of the Munda, Oraon, Santhal, Ho, Kharia, Kurmi (Mahato), Bhumij and Baiga — and of all village communities — of Jharkhand (a state festival), Chhattisgarh (Surguja-Jashpur), Odisha (Mayurbhanj-Sundargarh), Bihar (the Singhbhum-Santhal Pargana border), Bengal (Purulia-Bankura) and the tea gardens of Assam; a branch of the Karam deity (the Karam tree — *Adina cordifolia*, haldu) is planted in the akhara (courtyard) and worshipped, and the Karma dance goes on all night to the mandar and nagara.
It is at heart a brother-sister festival — unmarried girls and women fast for the brother's long life and prosperity, grow the jawa seven to nine days earlier (sprouts of barley, wheat, maize and urad in a bamboo basket), worship the Karam branch and the jawa on Karma night, hear the tale of Dharma and Karma from the pahan (priest), immerse the jawa and the branch the next morning and tuck a jawa sprout behind the brother's ear. Above are this year's date and muhurats (moonrise — the night vigil); below the vidhi, samagri, katha, dishes and regional customs.
Significance — why this vrat
Karam = karma (fate/labour) and the Karam tree — Karam Raja (the Karam deity) is the god of harvest, children, prosperity and fortune; the tale of Dharma and Karma (below) teaches reverence for karma — whoever disrespects the Karam branch/karma loses everything; in Bhadrapada the paddy is growing in the fields — the wish for a good harvest, the 'jawa' (new sprouts) = the symbol of fertility.
A women's festival: sisters fast all day for the brother (many waterless), tend the jawa basket for nine days (water-lamp-song), dance all night around the Karam branch; the next morning tucking jawa sprouts behind the brother's ear/on his head = the blessing of protection — the tribal equivalent of Raksha Bandhan; married sisters come to their parental home.
The forms of Karma: 'Bhado Karam/Ind Karam' on Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi (the main), 'Jitiya Karam' in some regions (Ashwin Krishna Ashtami — with Jitiya), 'Dussehra Karam', 'Raji Karam' (of the tribal kings) — the Jharkhand government holiday is on Bhado Karam; the Karma dance is folk heritage in Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh (mandar, nagara, jhumar songs).
Puja vidhi (step by step)
This is the village-home vidhi of Karma — from growing the jawa to the worship and immersion of the Karam branch; led by the pahan/elders, every village with its own flavour.
- Growing the jawa (7-9 days earlier — usually Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya/Panchami): unmarried girls/women bring sand-soil from the river or pond and sow seeds of barley, wheat, maize, urad, gram and mustard in a new bamboo basket (dalia); after bathing every morning and evening they give water-turmeric-a lamp, sing jawa songs ('jawa uthana'), the basket in a high, pure place; the sprouts come up yellow-green.
- Karma morning (Ekadashi): the sisters fast (waterless/fruit), bathe, new/clean clothes, plastering and decorating the house and courtyard (akhara); the brothers/young men cut a branch of the Karam tree from the forest (without letting it touch the ground, with songs and nagara) — they do not look back at the branch.
- Evening (Pradosh — time above): planting the Karam branch in the centre of the akhara (three branches too), the jawa baskets around it, lamps, flowers-akshat-turmeric-sindoor-durva, cucumber-fruit-murhi (puffed rice)-jaggery, coconut; the girls offer sindoor and flowers to the Karam branch and their jawa on the branch; the fasting sisters sit holding jawa in their hands.
- The Karam katha: the pahan/elder tells the tale of Dharma and Karma (below), the girls respond with 'hunkari'; after the katha the fast is broken — cucumber, fruit, murhi-jaggery, rice-milk (in many regions the full meal later at night).
- All night: the Karma dance around the Karam branch to the mandar, nagara and cymbals (a circle — women and men holding hands), Karma songs (jhumar, damkach, 'Karam Raja…'), handia (some communities); the whole village, sisters, brothers and sisters-in-law; new clothes and jewellery.
- The next morning (Dwadashi — immersion): the Karam branch is pulled out and immersed in the river/pond with song and dance; the sisters pluck the jawa sprouts and tuck them behind the brothers' ears/in their turbans (the blessing of protection), the brother gives the sister a gift; a share of the jawa to the field, threshing floor and home temple — the prosperity of the harvest; the remaining sprouts to the cow.
- Home custom (non-tribal rural families): if no Karam branch, a shami/peepal branch or a Karam picture; the jawa on the Tulsi chaura; katha and songs; the sisters do the brother's aarti and tilak; on this day all communities in Jharkhand dance — go to the 'Karam akhara'.
- Jitiya Karam (Ashwin Krishna Ashtami — some regions): the Karam branch with Jitiya; the same fast; Dussehra Karam on Ashwin Shukla Dashami; match the date with the panchang/village pahan.
Puja samagri checklist
The jawa basket and seeds, the Karam branch, sindoor-turmeric-durva, cucumber-murhi-jaggery, the mandar and nagara — the Karma list.
- Jawa: new bamboo basket (dalia) 1-3, river sand-soil, seeds — barley, wheat, maize, urad, gram, mustard, paddy; turmeric water, lamp
- The Karam branch (the Karam/haldu tree — *Adina cordifolia*; if unavailable, shami/peepal), a pit in the akhara, cow-dung plastering
- Puja: sindoor, turmeric, akshat (arwa rice), durva, flowers (marigold-lotus), incense-lamp (mustard oil), coconut, betel nut-paan, mauli
- Naivedya/fasting food: cucumber (the main), fruit (banana-guava), murhi/lai (puffed rice), jaggery, chura-curd, rice-milk, sesame; the night feast — rice-dal-sabzi, pitha
- The Karma dance: mandar, nagara, dhol, cymbals, flute; new clothes (sari — red-yellow border), jewellery, flower crowns (girls)
- For the brother: jawa sprouts (to tuck behind the ear), the tilak-aarti thali; a gift from the brother to the sister
- Katha and songs: the Dharma-Karma katha (pahan/book), Karma-jhumar songs; hunkari
- Immersion: song and dance to the river/pond, a share of jawa for the field
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Open panchang →Vrat katha (the story)
Dharma and Karma were two brothers — Karma went abroad to trade, Dharma farmed at home and worshipped the Karam deity. When Karma returned with his earnings he saw the preparations for the Karma festival at home — everyone dancing around the Karam branch, no one came to receive him; in anger Karma pulled out the Karam branch and threw it in the river, trampled the jawa. That very moment all his wealth was lost — his trade sank, the house was ruined, disease and poverty; his wife said 'you have insulted the Karam deity'.
Karma repented and set out in search of the Karam deity — on the way he met dry wells, fruitless trees, a leper, a lonely woman — all asked 'ask the Karam deity about our sorrow too'; at last he found the Karam branch floating in the river, held it and begged forgiveness, worshipped it by the rules — the Karam deity was pleased, his wealth returned; on the way back he received the answers to the questions too — the well of one who gave no charity dried up, the tree of one who did not share its fruit bore none… The lesson — no disrespect to karma (Karam) and the Karam deity, prosperity through labour, charity and faith; hence the worship of the Karam branch on Karma and the sisters' fast for the brother's fortune.
Folk forms: in places the tale of seven brothers and their sister (the sister kept the Karma vrat for the brothers, the sisters-in-law threw away the jawa → calamity → recovered through the sister's vrat); 'Karam Raja' the harvest deity among the Oraon-Munda, 'Karam Gosain' among the Santhals; the Karma songs ('Karam Raja aayo re…') are the tunes of these tales; a state-level celebration led by the Chief Minister on Bhado Karam in Jharkhand.
Cucumber, murhi-jaggery, chura-curd, pitha — the fasting thali and night feast of Karma
On Karma the sisters fast all day (waterless/fruit) and break the fast after the katha with cucumber, fruit, murhi and jaggery; cucumber-murhi-jaggery-coconut-fruit for the Karam branch; rice-dal-sabzi, pitha (of rice flour) and kheer at the night feast; handia (rice beer) is in the tradition of rural-tribal homes, but not in the vrat and puja.
- Breaking the fast: cucumber (the main — the Karam prasad), fruit (banana-guava-apple), murhi/lai-jaggery, chura-curd, rice-milk (some regions), sesame-jaggery
- The naivedya of the Karam branch: cucumber, murhi, jaggery, coconut, fruit, arwa rice; the jawa sprouts
- The night feast: arwa rice, dal (arhar/moong), sabzi (pumpkin-okra-cowpea), greens, pitha (rice flour with coconut-jaggery/urad filling — steamed/griddle), kheer, curd
- Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh: dhuska (fried rice-dal), arsa (rice-jaggery), thekua, madua roti, cheela; Odisha (Sundargarh-Mayurbhanj): pitha-arisa-manda, chakuli; Bengal (Purulia): pithe, muri-jaggery; Assam (tea gardens): pitha, rice-meat (the festive feast)
- For the brother: pitha-kheer from the sister's hands, jawa sprouts; a gift from the brother to the sister
Regional customs
The state Karam of Jharkhand, the Surgujia Karma dance of Chhattisgarh, the Karam puja of Odisha, the jhumur of the Assam gardens, the Bengal-Bihar border — one beat of the mandar.
A custom, tale, song or dish heard from your grandmother — 2-4 lines; after reading we add it on this page with your region's name (the phone is never shown — only to ask you back).
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✅ Do
- Grow the jawa 7-9 days earlier (girls), daily water-lamp-song; the fast and worship of the Karam branch on Karma
- The Karam branch with respect — do not look back, do not let it touch the ground; shami/peepal if unavailable
- Hear the Dharma-Karma katha, hunkari; the family in the night's dance and song; the immersion the next morning and the jawa behind the brother's ear
- The brother's gift to the sister, the sister's aarti-tilak-jawa for the brother; a share of the jawa in the field
- Non-tribals are welcome at the akhara too — Karma is Jharkhand's shared festival
❌ Don't
- No disrespect to the Karam branch/jawa, throwing or trampling (the katha's lesson — calamity); no harm to the tree when cutting the branch (one branch)
- No liquor or meat in the puja and fast; no intoxicants or fights at the night dance
- No unwashed hands in the jawa basket, no touching the jawa during menstruation (folk rule — another girl does it)
- No waterless fast for the unwell/pregnant — fruit; the night vigil according to health
- No mockery or commercialisation of the Karma dance — it is a festival of faith
Frequently asked questions
When is Karma in 2026?
This year's Bhadrapada Shukla Ekadashi (Bhado Karam) date is above — in the North-Indian panchang this is the Parivartini (Jaljhulani) Ekadashi; the jawa is sown 7-9 days earlier (Shukla Tritiya-Panchami); the immersion the next morning (Dwadashi); the dates of the Jitiya Karam/Dussehra Karam of some regions differ — match with the village pahan/panchang.
Whose festival is Karma — only the tribals'?
Originally of the tribal communities (Munda-Oraon-Santhal-Ho-Kharia-Baiga-Gond) and the Kurmi-Mahato community of Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh-Odisha, but all village communities (rural Hindus) celebrate together; a state festival in Jharkhand — everyone dances in the cities; being a brother-sister and harvest festival it has the spirit of Raksha Bandhan, open to all.
What is the jawa and how to grow it?
Sowing seeds of barley, wheat, maize, urad and gram in a new bamboo basket filled with river sand-soil — 7-9 days before Karma; unmarried girls give water and turmeric daily after bathing, sing jawa songs, the basket in a high pure place; on Karma night the jawa beside the Karam branch, the next morning the sprouts behind the brother's ear and in the field — the symbol of fertility, prosperity and the brother's protection (like the barley shoots of Navratri).
Which tree is the Karam? What if no branch is available?
Karam = *Adina cordifolia* of the haldu/kadamba family (the Karam/karam gachha) — a tree of the forests of Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh; the young men bring the branch without letting it touch the ground; if unavailable, a branch of shami, peepal, bel or kadamba, or a picture of the Karam deity — the spirit is the same; migrant communities in cities usually plant a shami branch.
What vrat do the sisters keep and what does the brother do?
The sisters (unmarried and married) keep a waterless/fruit fast all day for the brother's long life and fortune, tend the jawa, worship the Karam branch and hear the katha, dance at night; the brother brings the branch, takes the jawa sprout behind his ear from the sister the next morning and gives her a gift — like Raksha Bandhan; married sisters come to their parental home.
What is the Karma dance?
The night-long communal dance of women and men in a circle around the Karam branch — mandar, nagara, cymbals, flute; the Karma-jhumar songs ('Karam Raja…', damkach); the state folk dance of Chhattisgarh, the heritage of Jharkhand-Odisha and the tea gardens of Assam; the dress — a red-bordered sari, flower crowns, the men in dhoti and turban.
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✅ Saved — you will get a message a day before the next vrat.Something went wrong — please try again.⏳ Saving…Also read: Jitiya (Jitiya Karam) · Raksha Bandhan (brother and sister) · Hartalika Teej (Bhadrapada) · Parivartini Ekadashi (Ekadashi vrat)
⚠️ This description follows the traditional folk customs and tales of Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh-Odisha; the custom of every village and community (Munda/Oraon/Santhal/Kurmi…) comes first — follow your pahan/elders. Match the date with a panchang; do not keep a waterless fast in ill health.
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