Pausha Māsa – December 5 –
January 3

Pausha māsa brings with it the cold of true Winter. And the still and silence that is characteristic of the Winter season. In this second month of Hemanta rtu the last remnants of warmth and colour give way to the cold hush and grey skies of Winter. Pausha māsa is traditionally one of the two coldest months of the year. When the cold bite of Winter is felt in our very bones. In the fields the harvest ripens and the mornings, rimmed with frost and shrouded with fog, carry the disembodied calls of Herons. Dusk blankets the earth in darkness.

The Sun offers no warmth; it is merely a pale disc of light. Which is ever decreasing as we head towards the heart of the cold season, Winter Solstice on December 21, when the day is the shortest and night the longest in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winter Solstice

In Pagan cultures around the world the Winter Solstice was celebrated as it marked the deepest, coldest part of Winter. There are many myths of seeing this as the time when monsters emerged because the goddess or light and warmth were missing. In ancient Mesopotamia Ishtar, the goddess of light and fertility goes underground and then held hostage by her sister, Ereshkigal, the Queen of the underworld for three days and nights. In Celtic mythology Winter Solstice is when the Oak King finally slays the Holly King, who represents the decline of the Sun and the return of the world into dormancy and darkness. While the Oak King represents rebirth and renewal and fertility and his companion bird is the Robin, whose sighting in Spring marked the beginning of the season of growth. In Greek mythology Demeter, the goddess of fertility and the abundance of the Earth, withdraws her favour from the land for the six months that her beloved daughter, Persephone spends in the underworld with her husband, Hades, the King of the underworld. Winter Solstice marks the change of Persephone’s home.

For Wiccans, the Winter Solstice is a part of the great wheel of time and is celebrated as Yule. The common theme in all of these myths is that the Winter Solstice is the when the warmth of the Sun and thus the fertility of the Earth is at its lowest point but also the turning point. Thus, Winter Solstice is celebrated as the night of rebirth and renewal, of fresh beginnings. From here on the darkness of winter begins to be defeated and the Sun will slowly begin to gain ascendence as the nights begin to become shorter by tiny increments. It is in Pausha māsa that we approach the cold, dark stillness of the Winter Solstice.

By its very nature; cold, silent and shrouded in fog, Pausha māsa is a time of interiority. And traditionally it is also a time of remembrance as this is the month of ancestors in Sanatan Dharma.

Prayers of Pausha

Pausha māsa, in Sanatan Dharma, is the month of ancestors. Traditional practices and rituals include fasting, undertaking works of charity and prayers that seek to invoke the ancestral blessings. Interestingly, Pausha is not considered a good time for starting new ventures – in that sense it is considered inauspicious. But for spiritual practices it is considered a very auspicious time.

Pausha is also the time of expressing gratitude to the goddess who gives us the most important of all wealth – food that nourishes and nurtures us all.

Pausha Amavasya: The New Moon (Amavasya) of Pausha is the most important day for rituals dedicated to ancestors. Fasting, a ritual bath in a sacred river such as the Ganges, prayers and giving of grains and clothes as daan (charity) are some of the traditional practices followed on this Amavasya. This year Pausha Amavasya will fall on Friday, December 19.

Pausha Lakshmi: In the predominantly agrarian society of our ancestors, a bountiful harvest was also seen as wealth. Thus, Lakshmi was also worshipped as Dhan (grain) Lakshmi, especially in the month of Pausha when the harvest ripens in the fields. The other names by which this form of the goddess is worshipped include Sowbhaygya (good luck) Lakshmi.

In one of the few known remnants of this tradition, in many parts of Bengal the ritual worship of Pausha/ Dhan Lakshmi has elements that reflect this aspect of the goddess of wealth. In this ritual celebration, also known as ‘Lokhi Pujo’, the goddess is often worshipped not as an idol but as ‘Lokhi Shora’ – an earthen disc upon which the goddess Lakshmi is drawn, or hand painted. Often even this disc is replaced by earthen pots filled with paddy that are then worshipped as Dhan Lakshmi. Other rituals include the making of ‘kola ghacher bhela’ – boats carved from the stem of Banana trees. Perhaps these signify the successful storage of harvested grain – which in those times would have been a form of wealth. Even the bhog or prasad offered to the goddess is typically vegetarian and consists of grains, nuts and seeds.    

Shakambari Purnima: This month of spiritual practices ends on January 3, with the Full Moon that is also celebrated as Shakambari Purnima, and signifies the culmination of the Shakambari Navratri, which were once observed and celebrated in honour of this forgotten primordial goddess.

As “She who brings forth vegetation”, Shakambari is the manifestation of the great goddess who appeared in response to the fervent and desperate prayers when a long drought of a hundred years had rendered the earth dry and barren. Shakambari appeared and then for nine days and nine nights her body sprouted vegetation to regenerate the Earth. She sublimated herself into the forests and the flora that feeds us and sustains life. The nine days of the green goddess begin on December 28, the Ashtami which is also celebrated as Banada Ashtami, since one of the names of Shakambari is Banadevi (the goddess of the forest).

Rituals of the Self

Pausha māsa is the time to turn inwards. It is a time of interiority and thus our focus should turn inwards. As the many myths and legends of Winter Solstice tell us, the darkest time of the year is also the time of renewal and rebirth. Thus, Pausha traditionally is the ideal time to create a deep foundation, to create within ourselves the reservoir that will serve to replenish and renew us.

Moreover, Pusha māsa by and large aligns with the Gregorian calendar month of December, which in so many ways can be a month of regrets (as we reflect on the year that is very nearly over) but also of a determination to do better, to start afresh come January.

And so, this month is the ideal time to turn to practices such as meditation, journalling and healing.

Meditation: This can be an ideal practice for helping us heal in the form of an emotional cleanse and help us reset ourselves as it were. If you already have a meditative practice, this is the time to go deeper into it. But if you are choosing to start one at this time, pick what works best for you. The Meditation Series on Sutradhar is a great guide to different types of Meditation practices.

Journalling: This modern practice can be highly effective as a tool for self-reflection and release. In a workshop in Paro, one of our speakers had suggested a beautiful but gentle exercise –  a list of ‘things you are grateful for in this year’ that is designed to encourage us to start a journalling practice. But it is, I feel, equally apt to create a much-needed ritual of release to say goodbye to 2025 and allow us to start the new year with a cleaner slate. Think of it as cleansing ourselves in preparation for the new year.

The exercise is simple: Take a notebook and pen or a pencil. And create two lists – one that lists all the things that you are grateful for in the year that is coming to a close. Secondly, a list of all the things/ habits/ moments that you want to leave behind, to let go off along with the year 2025.

The lists can be as long or as short as you need them to be. There can be more than these two lists. The aim is to help us become consciously aware of what made us happy or filled us with gratitude and joy over the last 12 months and what made us sad or what we would like to leave behind as we enter the new year.

Fragrant Rituals

Dhuna: In this month of grey light and sunless skies, rituals of fragrance can be both, warming and uplifting. Using a dhuna to greet the morning or to greet the dusk is a beautiful practice. Traditionally the resin, flower and spice mix sprinkled over burning charcoal in a dhuna results not only in a deeply fragrant home, but it also helps keep insects away. Moreover, in the month of Pausha, when the combination of cold weather and lack of sunlight makes us feel lethargic, the ritual of starting the day with a dhuna can uplift the mood and shake off the lingering lethargy of night with its fragrant fire. Whereas a dusk dhuna ritual can offer us a moment of serenity and peace with which to bring to close the activities of the day and prepare for a restful night.

Rituals of Food

In this bitterly cold month, we all seek and indeed need warmth in all that we do – the clothes we wear, the foods we eat and in our immediate environment. Both Ayurveda and traditional, regional cuisine practices recommend eating hearty, warming foods and spices at this time.

• Sesame or Til seeds are one of the highly recommended foods for Winter just as Ayurveda recommends the use of Sesame seed oil as suitable for all dosha types and during all seasons. Sweet, as per Ayurvedic designation, Sesame seeds are heating and very nourishing for our bodies. They are also a rich source of Calcium. One of the easiest and delicious ways of eating Til is Tilkut or Til ke Laddoo. Below is one recipe to make Tilkut at home.

Ingredients: Til (sesame seeds): 250 grams + Jaggery powder: 250 grams + Ghee: 1 to 2 tsp Desi Ghee

Process: Dry roast the Sesame seeds in a wide pan over medium heat. Stir continuously until seeds start turning brown and give off a nutty aroma. Remove from heat immediately. Be careful to not let the seeds burn as that makes them taste bitter. Cool the seeds before grinding them into a coarse powder. Warm the ghee. Now mix together the Sesame seed powder, Jaggery powder and the warm ghee. Coat hands with a bit of ghee and shape the mixture into small round laddoos. This needs to be done while the mixture is still warm. If desired, the freshly shaped laddoos can be further rolled in plate of Sesame seeds for coating. Now set the balls on a tray to air dry for a few hours before storing them in airtight containers.

• Warming Tisanes: Some simple drinks made with warming spices and herbs make for the perfect winter beverage. They warm us up and help keep minor seasonal afflictions at bay.
• Heating Winter Tisane: A warming winter tisane, this concoction enhances digestive fire, helps with better elimination and better circulation.

Ingredients: 1 Tsp Ginger powder I 1 ½ Tsp Cinnamon powder I ¼ tsp Cardamom powder. Mix all the powders and store in an airtight container. To make the tisane: Steep 1 teaspoon of the mix in a cup of boiling hot water. Let stand for 5 to 7 minutes. Drink warm after adding a little Honey.

• Clearing Excess Kapha: This is an Ayurvedic home remedy recommended by Dr Vasant Lad. It helps in preventing and clearing excess Kapha from our respiratory tracts, allowing us to steer clear of Kapha-related imbalances such as congestion.

Ingredients: ½ tsp Ginger powder + ½ tsp Ground Mustard powder + 1 tsp Honey. Mix all three together into a paste and have twice a day. Sip hot water along with it if desired.

Pausha māsa is a month of cold and silence, when the earth is shrouded with fog and hardened with frost. And yet, to this month there is a beauty of its own. The stillness can become the beauty of peace, a slowing down of the sensory experience that can help us rebalance and heal our focus. The cold can be invigorating if we embrace it. It can help us rejuvenate our bodies. In short, Pausha is a month of seeding, of preparing, a time when can begin to create for ourselves the time and space we need for our own physical and mental renewal.

May Pausha māsa offer you a respite from the world and help you nourish your inner self.