Charak Puja and Charak Fair

CHARAK PUJA AND CHARAK FAIR

Charak Puja and Charak Fair....

Charak Puja is one of the most important folk festivals of Hindus in West Bengal and Bangladesh. This puja is performed on the last day of Chaitra and the first two or three days of Boishakh are spent in the festival of Charak puja. There is no mention of this puja in Govindananda's Varshakriyakaumudi and Raghunandan's chronology written in the full fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. However, this festival was prevalent among the Pashupatinath community in ancient times. The practice is not very ancient among the upper class people. It is said that this puja was first started by a king named Sundarananda Tagore in 1485 AD.

Another name of this puja is blue puja. Gambhira Puja or Shiva's Gajan is of this Charak Puja. Charak Puja is celebrated on Chaitrasankranti i.e. on the last day of Chaitra month. The day before, the Charak tree was washed and cleaned. The Shivling, the symbol of Shiva, is kept in a container filled with water, which is known to the worshipers as "Buroshiva". The fallen Brahmin performed the duties of the priest of this puja. Special parts of the puja are crocodile puja, walking on burning embers, jumping on thorns and knives, arrowheads, Shiva's wedding, fire dance, swinging in the charakgacha and dano-barano or hajara puja.

At the root of all this worship is the belief in ghosts and reincarnation. Its various ceremonies are similar to the human sacrifices practiced in the ancient tribal society. In the festival of worship, many kinds of physical pain are considered as a part of religion. In the charakagache, the devotee or the monk is tied to the wheel with an iron latch and rotated quickly. He was stabbed in the back, arms, legs, tongue and other parts of the body. Sometimes a burning iron rod was pierced over him. Although the British government enacted this law in 175 AD, it is still prevalent among the common people of the village.

The organizers of the puja traveled around the village with a group of a few people. There is one Shiva and two people in the group. One is adorned with a long tail and bright red flowers on his head. Ghungur is on the feet of friends. They are accompanied by drums and brass instruments. Everyone dances to the beat of Siva songs and instruments. They are also called the blue mad team. They go from house to house singing Gajan songs and performing culture songs. Worship is done with whatever is available as a gift in return. Fairs are held in different parts of the country centering on this festival which is called as Charak Sankranti Mela.

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