Dr. Dipendu Das
Often in the mid of the month of April as one steps out of the busy urban space and enters the suburbs or the rural areas in the eastern part of India or Bangladesh, one may be greeted with loud drum beats, the sounds of kashar and ghanta accompanied by euphoric shout of applause or scream emerging out of a huge crowd in a large field. An attempt to trace the source in the midst of the din may present some extremely queer sights which are the parts of some of the rituals of what is known as Charak Puja.
Charak Puja is a folk festival popular among the downtrodden Hindu people, situated mostly in the rural areas in the eastern part of India, such as West Bengal and parts of Assam, and also in certain regions of Bangladesh. It is celebrated on the last day of the month Chaitra of the Bengali calendar usually falling around April 14/15 every year. Though it is largely concentrated today among the downtrodden and scheduled caste community settled in rural areas, the festival in the past used to be held even in the towns and cities. Hutom Penchar Naksha, the celebratedsatire written by Kaliprasanna Singha narrates the Charak festival held in the 19th century Kolkata – “The city of Calcutta is rocking at the sound of drums, the devotees are warming up, and the blacksmiths are making all kinds of hooks”. The Englishmen called Charak Puja “the hook swinging festival”, which refers to the practice of the piercing of hooks in the human bodies and then swinging on the ropes tied to bamboos. The festival once held also in the towns, gradually lost its popularity among the urban masses and the upper caste populace, and began to survive among the rural folk only.
The last day of the month of Chaitra being the last day of the year in Bengali calendar, the Charak festival in fact is a ritualistic farewell to the passing year and a reception to the coming year. It is believed that the celebration through penance helps in destroying all the evils, sufferings and pains of the current year and brings forth all round prosperity and happiness in the year to come.
A Charak tree, actually the trunk of a large tree without any roots or branches, is considered to have divine power. Its height is around 30 to 40 feet. The trunk needs to be straight. The tree is worshipped by priests and then erected inside a ditch and is balanced by bamboos. The Charak tree is believed to be the abode of Ardhanariswar (composite form of the Shiva and Parvati). An Idol or a Mask is first attached to the top of tree, before the worship and hoisting it up straight on the ground. A good number of people are engaged to pull it up. In some villages the mask is also known as Harakali. The main deity of the festival is Lord Shiva. However, the predominant concept is that of Ardhanarishwar –a mixture of the male and the female identity and is neither clearly male nor female, which symbolizes Purush (Man) and Prakriti (Nature) in the deity, meaning Human life coexists with that of nature.
Charak Puja is also known as Nil Puja, Hajrha Puja and Batri Charak in certain places. Though the actual festival is held on the midnight of Chaitra Sankranti, the preparation of the same begins before one month of the stipulated day of the Puja. The team involved in its arrangement visits different villages to collect the necessary items for the Puja. The devotees who get involved in this Brata or the ritualistic worship go through fasting from sunrise to sunset every day preceding the Charak festival. They live strictly on fruits & perform the daily worship through the month preceding the main Puja. On the day of the Charak or the Gajan, as it is also called, bamboo stages are constructed on bamboo poles, the height of which ranges from 10 to 15 feet.
After the month long penance the devotees climb up the high bamboo stage & hurl themselves forward. The ground on which they fall is embedded with glass, thorns, knives & other sharp weapons. It is believed that the devotees escape unhurt as they are blessed with divine miracle. The devotees also pierce their body parts with sharp weapons without any expression of the experience of pain or bloodshed. It is believed that the God dawns on the devotees and save them from all pain. The main worshipper is often tied with a sharp hook at the back and is then moved round around a bar, with a long rope. The devotees often walk through flame without any burn or pain. All these are the parts of miracles associated with the Charak festival. However, the display of such spectacles requires special training, which the team involved in the Puja practice through a long period of time.
There is no mention of Charak festival in the Vedas and the Puranas. It is a purely folk festival. It is difficult to ascertain exactly when the festival began. There are different theories in regard to this. According to one of them, Buddhism for a period in the middle Ages faced considerable intimidation in certain parts of India. Consequently many Buddhist monks took shelter in different corners of the country. A few of them in Bengal converted to Hinduism. With them came the Tantric rituals of Buddhism in Bengal including severe penance which fostered the faith in renouncing worldly pursuits for spiritual quest.
That may be the reason why Gajan festival, that includes Charak Puja, was known initially as Dharmer Gajan; and subsequently with the passage of time came to be known as Shiber Gajan. The term Dharmathakur might have been originated from the concept of Dharmaraj of Buddhism. It is to be noted that Gajan is basically associated with agricultural community who pray for the rains and better harvest and worship Lord Shiva who is the most popular God in this community. It must be mentioned here that Dharmathakur is also considered to be the God of Fertility.
As has been mentioned the popularity of the Charak Puja reveals a considerable decline with the passage of time following the transformation of economy from agricultural to industrial; and also with the growing urbanisation. Moreover, inflicting severe injuries to the bodies and the macabre spectacles associated with the festival have never received acceptance among educated class. As a result the festival has been gradually losing favour among the literate section and in the urban locales. The gradual wane in the number of trained devotees required for such arduous ritualistic worship is another reason for the decline of Charak Puja.
However, it is to be noted that the Charak festival not only reflects the blind faith and the superstitions of the uneducated rural folks, but also the eagerness of the downtrodden masses to accept penance to achieve salvation.
