Jamai means son in law and sasthi means the 6th day in a fortnight of a Hindu calendar. Jamai Sasthi is observed on the 6th day of Shukla Paksha which means the waxing phase of moon. This falls on the month of Jaistho of the Bengali calendar which is on the month of May and June.
- This day is special for son in laws. They are invited at the places of their in laws and treated with maximum honor. Mother in laws prepares delicious traditional foods, sweets and different items for the son in laws. Hilsa fish which is a delicacy of the Bengalis is cooked on this day for the son in laws.
- The preparation for this day starts from one day before. Father in laws gets busy with shopping for their son in law as they try to make them feel special on this day.
- The Sasthi goddess is worshipped on this day. It is believed that there was a family with three sons and three daughters in laws. The youngest daughter in law was very greedy and she used to eat all the foods in the house and blamed the black cat of the house for everything.
- When she gave birth to a boy the black cat stole the boy and gave to Goddess Sasthi. She gave birth to 7 children and same thing happened with all. She became sad and morose and seeing her sad Goddess appeared before her and instructed her to seek for forgiveness to the cat and then can she get back her children.
- She then adored the black cat and worshipped Goddess Sasthi following all the rituals with full devotion. Thus Jamai Sasthi is celebrated with full devotion as Goddess Sasthi’s blessings are necessary for the well being of children of the house.
- After the worship rituals gets over a yellow thread is tied on the wrist and Prasad is distributed among all.