Charak Puja - A traditional Bengali religious festival mainly celebrated by the Minority Hindu Cast in the Southern Belt of Bangladesh and West Bengal. This festival is specially celebrated in the rural areas of Bangladesh but is also famous among all believers of the Hindu religion in Bangladesh. The festival is devoted to the deities Shiva and Shakti and celebrated to fight remove and fight against the pain and stress. This festival can be seen in the Sylhet, Potuakhali, Dinajpur, Dhamrai of Bangladesh, which is an urban area but the festival is very famous in these places.
This festival usually comes on middle of April falling on 13 of April, on the day of �Chaitra Sakranti� Last day of Bangla new years.
Charak Puja is performed by usually ten to twelve members, including both men and women. The bearers of the ritual are called Charkia and the main performer Deoboinshi. The festival starts from fast. On this festival the men and women who takes �brata�(fast) go through the month long fasting from sunrise to sunset, live strictly on fruits and have to do daily worship the god to get the blessing from the lord. On the day of the �Charak� or the �Gajan�, as it is also called, Trees and Bamboo stages are made on trees poles, the height ranging from 15 to 20 feet. The performers then hung their back with a pointed hanger and jump from the stage onto the ground laid with broken glass, nails thorns, knives & other devious weapons and other pointed objects. The excitement reaches to apex when the performers rise and without a single wound. Devotees fall on this ground, but are not hurt. It is believed that Lord Shiva has done this miracle by giving them his blessings. There are yet other devotees whose body can be seen overhanging from a hook fixed to the stage and 3 to 7 times run clockwise. Charak Puja is one way to reach salvation, so is believed by these men and women.
During this festival the devotee roams over the town for gaining some donations as Chanda for this festival and the little kids also dance and perform in the form of Lord Siva and Shakti as well as Goddess Maa Kali.
These Photographs were Taken at Sylhet City areas in Bangladesh.
Photo documentary by Md. Akhlas Uddin (Hits: 188111)
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